Rokuten Doshin, I Reject
by A Dyslexic Writer
Summary: With the death of her friends pushing her powers beyond their limits, Orihime rejects all the events that had led up to that point, returning her to when she was just a little girl. With three and a half years to prepare for the upcoming conflict, Orihime is going to become stronger. She just needs a little more magic.
1. Chapter 1

**A response to Shadowrosell's challenge.**

 **Neither of us own Bleach or Harry Potter. At least I think he doesn't.**

* * *

"Sōten Kisshun, I reject!.. I reject!.. I reject..." Inoue Orihime's tears clouded her eyes and her shouted incantation turned to quite sobs. "This wasn't supposed to happen. You were all supposed to have been safe. Kurosaki-kun... you won't suppose to die."

She ran a hand through Kurosaki Ichigo's messy orange hair, his head resting in her lap inside of the twin sacred shield. She couldn't make herself look at it. The massive hole in the center of Ichigo's chest. It just won't close.

It wasn't just Ichigo. Sado, Rukia, Uryu, Renji; they had all come to Hueco Mundo in order to save her, and soon they would all be dead. She couldn't stand it.

"I reject... I reject..." She whimpered again and again. A nearby tower exploded, blowing her long orange hair outwards and sending up clouds of sand everywhere.

When it finally died down and she turned her head, her heart jumped up into her throat. There stood the Arancar, Ulquiorra, looking for all the worlds like the devil himself. His cold unfeeling eyes starting at her from underneath his dark bangs while huge bat like wings stretched out behind him. In his left hand was what was left of the Quincy, Uryu, she could only recognize it as having been him by the look of the shredded white clothing that was covered in his blood.

Orihime's eyes followed the body as Ulquiorra tossed it at her, having it skid across the ground to lay there at the edge of her shield. Orihime shook her head, momentary too shocked to think before giving a scream of horror. More tears coming to her eyes as her distressed cries ripped at her throat. "No... Why is this happening?" She said through her sobs.

"It is because of you." Ulquiorra's voice was as cold and unfeeling as it had ever been, and his words cut through her like knives. "This is the result of the choices you have made. Blame me if you wish, but you were the one who caused their deaths."

"No, please. Give me another chance. I'll fit this. I know I can." Orihime cried, her shield expanded again to bring Uryu into it. She couldn't let it end like this. She had to find some way to make things right. She couldn't let them die for her.

"There are no second chances. This is reality. It is a world of suffering." Ulquiorra said as he stared at her, unblinking and unfeeling. This was the way he had always been to her. He had so desired to see her suffer, to see her break down because of his cruelty. Now, he was finally getting what he had wanted.

"No! I reject! I reject!" Orihime shouted, shaking her head. "I can set things right! I will set things right!" Ulquiorra blinked in surprise and the world around them started to shimmer and the girl's spiritual pressure grew. She was drawing on the spiritual particles that made up Hueco Mundo, using them to increase her own power.

"What is this? Why is Hueco Mundo lending her its power?" Ulquiorra said, his surprise not showing on his face. Hueco Mundo was a world made of pure negititive energy; despair, fear, hatred, disgust, jealousy. So why was it reacting to the girl's prayers?

All points on her blue hair pins glowed as the six spirits were summoned at once, pushing the devil arancar back with a wind made from the bending of time and space. The six spirits formed around Orihime and began to blanket her body in a bright orange light that glowed brighter than the sun. Ulquiorra hissed, shielding his eyes with a wing.

Orihime felt it. Her power rushing up. Her mind was becoming blank as words began to flow into her, her lips seeming to move of their own accord. "Ayame, Baigon, Hinagiku, Lily, Shun'ō, Tsubaki, please... Rokuten Doshin... Rokuten Doshin, I reject!" The power grow stronger and stronger as the light became too overwhelming.

As her consciousness drifted away Orihime whispered. "Please... just give me one more chance."

* * *

Beep Beep Beep Beep!...

Orihime groaned as she blindly reached out with her left hand, batting at the cursed alarm clock on her dresser. It took her a little longer than usual to find it as she pushed herself outward to reach the digital clock. She must have been shifting around in her sleep again.

Pushing down her blankets she crawled out of bed and fell unceremoniously to the floor below her. After standing back up, she pushed up her arms up over her head and stretched. She felt a little off balance from the drowsiness and she half stumbled towards the door before moving into the bathroom.

Everything felt so weird and dream like. Like everything was in the right place, but it felt somehow different, but the girl couldn't put her finger on what it was. Her stomach grumbled weakly. She wanted breakfast. Thinking could wait until after that.

She stood at her bathroom sink, brushing her teeth in her usual morning rituals, when she looked into the mirror and spat out her toothpaste in surprise. Staring back at her through the bits of paste she had just coated the mirror with was a much younger person than she was expecting.

It was her. She knew it had to be. But it was impossible. Her cheeks had more baby fat on them, the kind that you would find on a child who was just short of going through her big growth spurt. Her chest was nearly flat and her burnt orange hair was only shoulder length. She stared in shock into her own light brown eyes as her brain slowly rebooted.

She swallowed hard, the uncomfortable feeling of the left over tooth paste in her mouth going down her throat further convinced her that it was real. She had really done it. She had somehow turned back time to before everything went wrong. Somehow, her powers had let her do it.

'Her powers'

The thought made Orihime's eyes widened when she noticed that her hairpin were gone. In a panic, she rushed back into her room, nearly falling on her face in her hurry. Her center of gravity was so different than before with her boobs gone. She momentarily wondered just how old she was now.

"Where are they. Where are they." She said, her fear raising as she dug through her draws, seeing clothes that she hadn't worn in years since they would have never fit her older body. "Where are you guys." She called out, as if the spirits could answer.

That's when she saw it. The little gift box sitting on her wastepaper basket next to her desk. The box was slightly open, and she could see the crystal blue flowers. She rushed over to the basket and pulled the hairpins out, holding them close to her.

She could feel them. The spirits moving back into the pins. "Guys. We did it. Thank you so very much." She whispered to the spirits.

'It was your own power Orihime-chan, but we were glad to help.' Shun'ō's supportive voice rang inside the now little girls hate.

'Huh, she's an even littler girly now.' Tsubaki scoffed, though she could tell he was pleased. 'Make the most of this time to get stronger. I don't want to be sitting on the back lines this time around.'

"Right." Orihime said with a nod, as she slipped her hairpins back into place. They felt less snug as before, but she was still glad to have them there. She would never let them go.

"Orihime-chan! Is everything alright in there?" A voice came from outside of Orihime's door, a voice that the girl thought she would never have heard again. Her eyes widened as the door opened and her older brother, Sora stood there in his morning pajamas, a slightly sad look on his face. "I heard a lot of shuffling about. Is everything alright?"

"Nii...nii-san?" Orihime said, her voice filled with disbelief. He was just the way she remembered him, mid-length brown hair and dark eyes. He was so much taller than her. She remembered when he died, but here he was. "Nii-san!" She cried out again, running up to him and throwing her arms around his legs and she cried into his chest. "You're here. You're still here."

"Orihime-chan, what's wrong? Why wouldn't I be here?" Sora said as he put his hands on her shoulders. "I would never leave you. No matter what happens you I will always look after you." He said as he looked into her face. Then he noticed the hairpins. "I thought you said you didn't like them." He said, brushing a stray piece of hair back behind her ears as he touched one of them.

Orihime shook her hear, looking up at her big brother. The man who had raised her after taking her away from their abusive parents. "No, I love them. I'll never take them off." Orihime said before burying her head in her brother's stomach again. "I love you, Nii-san."

Sora paused for a second before hugging her back. "I love you to, Orihime-chan."

* * *

 **'Rokuten Doshin' follows Orihime's attack's naming convention and ruffly means Six Sacred Time Shield**


	2. Chapter 2

**A response to Shadowrosell's challenge.**

 **Neither of us own Bleach or Harry Potter. At least I think he doesn't.**

* * *

Orihime was humming happily as she stood behind the stove in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for her brother. Everything was so perfect. All the hardships she had endured seemed so far away, like they happened in a different life time; which she supposed they did.

The girl knew that sooner or later she would have to return to the reality that there was now a clock counting down to when she would have to face those tragedies again in order to protect her best friends. Friends who didn't even know her anymore.

But for that morning at least, she would let herself feel happy. She would bask in her fortune and hold back the darkness. Every few seconds she would glance at the puzzled face of her Nii-san and give a short giggle.

"Orihime-chan, are you sure you wouldn't rather I make breakfast?" Sora asked for what must have been the seventh time.

"No! I've got it. I want to thank you for everything." Orihime said giving her cheerful smile, silencing the young man yet again. Those smiles weren't playing fair. Even without the mature body of her older self, she was cute as a button.

Finally finishing, she pulled her special pancakes off of the skillet and placed them on a plate in front of her brother. She hadn't had any jelly-beans, so she had to use taffy instead, but it still had soy sauce, fish paste and mustard, so the taste should have been about the same.

Sora looked a little uneasy as he took his first bite, not wanting to seemed ungrateful when his little sister had tried so hard. "Its... every good, Orihime-chan. Thank you." He said with a little bit of a lop sided smile as he slowly kept eating, taking time to enjoy each bite.

"You're welcome." Orihime said proudly. She had always been happy with her cooking skills. Rukia and Tatsuki had always complemented her on her interesting tastes.

"The girl is completely oblivious." Tsubaki grumbled as he flew around with the others. Tsubaki was the most aggressive of the six spirits, and was the only one able to preform attacks. He looked like a bad guy from a cowboy movie with a all black outfit and a sort of bandana in front of his mouth. He was a bit harsh at times, but Orihime knew he was only trying to look out for her. All of the spirits just wanted the best for her.

Orihime had wanted to give them some freedom to stretch their legs. While she had been a prisoner, they had only been let our when her captures had demanded it, and it have been unpleasant for all involved. Though Tsubaki insisted that she was wasting energy, they had all accepted the gesture.

The spirits flew around right in front of Orihime's brother, who was completely unaware of their presence. Normal humans couldn't see the spirits, her brother would probably never be able to see the guardians he had given her. He'll never know just how great a gift he had given her.

It was for the best. She didn't want to worry him. She didn't want to worry anyone anymore. She was going to become the one who protected them. Not just the one who licked their wounds.

"Um, Nii-san." Orihime mumbled, trying to get her brother's attention. When Sora looked up she started to rub her hands behind her back and looked towards the ground. "I was wondering if we could do something together today. Like go to the park, or maybe see a movie."

Sora gave a small smile and reached out to pat his little sister on the head. "Sorry Orihime-chan, but I've got to go to work. You know that." He said in a apologetic voice.

Orihime's shoulders dropped a little. "Oh yeah, that's right." She said, sounding a bit glum about it, but then she smiled again. "Ow well, we can do it some other time then. We have all the time in the world now."

Sora laughed. "I suppose we do. Now I'll be back by five, while you be alright by yourself, or do you want me to asked Arisawa-san to check up on you?" Sora asked her. Arisawa-san was what Sora called Tatsuki's mother, even before Sora had died, she had looked in on Orihime from time to time to make sure she was alright when her brother was out.

Orihime shook her head. "I'll be alright, you don't need to worry. I'm be here when you get home." Orihime said cheerfully. She kept her smile on until her brother had packed his lunch and picked up his briefcase, then after a good hug, he moved out and started on his walk to work.

Orihime watched him go with a heavy heart, but she quickly pulled herself together. "No time for that, Orihime! You need to start getting yourself back into shape!" She said to herself, clapping onto her checks.

"That's the spirit! You keep moving forward!" Lily shouted as she did spins in the air. The pink haired spirit had a futuristic look about her, with a skin tight suit and bright yellow visor over her eyes. Her hair was pulled up into three seperate buns and she gave off a good deal of energy.

"Who should we proceed, Orihime-sama?" Ayame mumbled in her usual withdrawn voice. She was pretty much the oppossite of her sister spirit, very shy and quiet. Her long brown hair was worn straight, like a princess from the old fairy tales and she wore a kimono dress that was bigger than her body, letting her hide away completely inside of it when she was too startled.

"Well, I think for now I need to get used to my body again." Orihime admitted. She had already fallen over several times that morning. She had trained long and hard with Rukia to learn to move faster in her old body and almost everything about it had been drilled into her subconscious. So now with the melons that had been pulling her center of gravity forward gone, she had to lean how to stand up straight again, let allow fight or run anywhere. "I'll go over some of the forms that Tatsuki taught me and try to see if I can't adjust myself."

"Alright, but tell us if there is anything we can do to help you, ok?" Shun'ō said with a smile. Shun'ō was actually a guy, though it was hard to tell with the way he was clothed. His slender body and bright clothes with his long blond ponytail really did make his seem like a girl, and his gentle voice also gave that impression. Sometimes even Orihime forgot that Shun'ō was really a guy, but he was good spirited and forgiving about it when she slipped up.

"I will." Orihime said with a smile. The spirits started to fly around the small apartment where Orihime had lived with her brother, just killing time as they watched for Orihime to need something off them.

Eventually, they decided to try to clean up a little bit in Orihime's room, since she had made a bit of a mess when she had been looking for them that morning, with the exception of Tsubaki who had stayed with the girl to oversee her training and to yell at her whenever she got off balance.

Working together, they managed to lift up the clothes she had pulled out and folded them. Laughing together whenever they messed up or caused an embarrassing situation because of their size. They were glad for Orihime to be home, to have a chance to be happy again.

"Well that's the last of it." Shun'ō said after they had put the last article of clothes back where it belonged.

But the victory didn't last too long before Ayame gave a squeal of panic. "Huh, wasn't the matter, Ayame-chan?" Lily asked as the other flew over to were their sister was flouting. But the girl spirit didn't answer. All she did was lift up a finger at point towards the digital clock.

The others stared at it for a few seconds before what the girl was saying clicked. Then they all went into a panic. "Orihime!" They screamed as one.

The girl was surprised by their shout and fell down onto her butt from a complex yoga pose. "What's the matter?" She asked as she rubbed her already sore but, which seemed to only be getting sorer as the day went on.

"Orihime this is bad! Look!" Shun'ō shouted as the five spirits worked together to carry the alarm clock over to her.

Orihime took it from them so that they wouldn't have to strain themselves for too long before looking down at the clock. It took her just a second longer than her spirits to realize why they were in a panic, and when she finally did, she dropped the clock as she ran towards the door as fast as she could, quickly putting her shoes and rushing out the door before even ten seconds had gone by. "Nii-san! Nii-san!" She shouted as she ran.

The clock's face had broken when it had hit the follow, but the reading hadn't changed. 10:24 a.m. SUN. JULY 21st. The day Sora had been hit by a car and died on his way to work.

Orihime cursed herself for not realizing it sooner. It should have been obvious. Her brother had given the pins to her the day before it had happened. She had remembered them fighting about it. She had felt horrible because it had been the last conversation they had with each other. Why hadn't she realized it sooner?

"Nii-san!" She cried again and again, getting odd looks as she ran through the streets, occasionally tripping, but pulling herself up before she could even fully hit the ground in order to continue to run.

But as she can closer to where it had happened, she saw that she was too late. She saw the people watching, the groups whispering to each other as they stood about, knowing that their was nothing to be done. Orihime pushed herself through the crowd. "Nii-san!" She shouted as she rushed forward into the street.

Sora's head was cracked open from where it had hit the road and blood was everywhere. His suitcase had broken open and papers were everywhere, blowing around in the breeze, flowing away, just like what was left of his life. His arms were twisted and his eyes were unfocused. He couldn't even see her. He was dying. He would die, just like before.

No.

Orihime wasn't powerless anymore. She had the strength now to stop this. She didn't care about the people who had gathered, who would see what she could do. She was going to save Sora. "Ayame, Shun'ō." Orihime called out to her spirits. They nodded and took up their positions on either side of Sora. "Sōten Kisshun, I reject!" Orihime commanded, holding out her own hands and giving the two spirits her strength. She watched as the orange glow spread over Sora's body.

The gathered crowd couldn't see the glow, or the spirits, but they all gasped in surprise as Sora's body started to nit itself back together. Without the presence of spiritual residue in the wounds, they were healing fast. The arm snapped back into place, his blood returned to his veins and his eyes quickly regained their focus and the injury on his head stitched itself closed and disappeared altogether. In just a few seconds, it was as if he had never been hit by the car in the first place.

"O...Orihime-chan?" Sora said, confused as life was pushed back into him. "What happened? How did you get here?"

Tears filled Orihime's eyes again as her older brother tried to push himself up, only for her to jump onto him, crying into his shirt. "Nii-san. I didn't let you die this time Nii-san." She cried, ignoring the whispers of 'miracle' and confused looks. None of them mattered. Her brother was still alive.

* * *

Orihime had followed her brother the rest of the way to work and stayed with him their until it was time for him to go home. She wanted to make sure that he was really alright. That fate wouldn't try to throw another curve ball at him in order to keep history on track. She had seen an anime where that kind of thing happened. Where the man character would keep going back in time to save his girlfriend, but she just kept getting killed in different ways.

Luckily, it didn't seem as though any more cosmic events were going to fall down from on high and crush the older brother. Orihime had managed to change fate. She managed to save someone who was going to otherwise have died. And if she could save her brother, then maybe, just maybe, she could save everyone else. She just needed to be stronger than she had been before.

"Are you sure you are okay, Nii-san?" Orihime asked her brother.

"For the hundredth time, Orihime-chan, I'm alright." Sora said with a short chuckle. "Even if I don't know how I am alright."

"Okay, but I'm still going to make you something special when we get home." Orihime said with a smile. This time Sora's chuckle was a little weaker.

But when they finally did get home and opened the door to their house, they were surprised to see an large barn owl sitting in the middle of their table.

"Nii-san! It's so cute! Where do you think it came from!?" Orihime asked excitedly as she rushed towards the table to get a closer look.

"Be careful Orihime-chan, it might be dangerous." Sora said as he quickly moved in to make sure she would be alright.

"But its so pretty. I think its nice." Orihime said, as she reached out and started to pet the owl. It gave the owly 'who' sound, causing Orihime to laugh before she started trying to copy it.

"Orihime, what's that on its leg?" Sora asked, pointing to an envelop that was tied to the owl's right leg. Orihime blinked in surprise before carefully untying the later. Once the letter was off its leg, the owl took to the air and flew out of the window. A window she didn't remember them leaving open.

Looking down, Orihime saw that the letter was addressed to her. She opened it and read the contents, only to be left confused.

'Dear Inoue Orihime,

We have received intelligence that you performed an unnamed charm at thirty-three minutes past ten this morning in a Muggle-inhabited area and in the presence of several Muggles.

As this is a breech of the International Statute of Secrecy and the Reasonable Restriction of Underaged Magic, you have been hereby expelled from Tanukiba's School for the Mystic Arts. A member of the Committee for the Conservation of Magical Cultures will come by your residence within the next three work days to take your wand or scepter.

Do not attempt to use any further magic as this will only cement your situation.

We hope you have a nice day.

Yours sincerely,

Mafalda Hopkirk

Improper Use of Magic Office, CCMC.'

After reading the letter, Orihime could only think one thing. "I don't go to that school."

* * *

 **A random guy: Thanks for the fix.**

 **Flame: I think you don't understand how flaming is supposed to work. You aren't supposed to say good job, you are supposed to tell me how bad I am. Saying things along the lines of 'there is a good reason people don't try original idea, because they aren't very good.' Thanks anyways.**

* * *

 **OH GOD, its a COMMITTEE!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A response to Shadowrosell's challenge.**

 **Neither of us own Bleach or Harry Potter. At least I think he doesn't.**

* * *

It wasn't uncommon for Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore's presence to be requested at other nations in order to evaluate an unforeseen situation. He was a first class member of the Order of Merlin after all, which was an international organization of intellectuals who volunteered their experience in helping to combat the unknown. Though he could honestly say this was his first experience with Japan.

Japan was a rather received nation, and its magical community was even more so. Some people, even in the wizarding world, didn't really believe it existed. So even though it had come out of its shell a bit since the downfall of the old Japanese government, it was still didn't look to outsiders to solve its problems, wanting to keep its old customs alive, unlike their muggle counterparts who had more or less reinvented themselves after the end of the second world war.

So when the message involved a problem in the established school systems, the Professor nearly jumped for joy, believing that the small nation was finally going to let foreign influence and discovers into is school system. While Japan had a wealth of heritage, and spells, it was severally lacking in potions materials as the muggle population grew to a point were there was no land left for them to farm the magical plants safely. Unfortunately this was not up for discussion, but Dumbledore did find the real topic fascinating in itself.

"So, the girl was believed to be a muggle, but both the magical detection senses and eye witnesses say that she preformed a spell. Not only that, but that the spell seemed to have brought someone back from the brink of death in just a few seconds, leaving no sign of the accident?" Dumbledore reiterated what he had been told. "Extraordinary." He said with a small smile.

It was almost unbelievable, though the Headmaster was too experienced to believe anything to be impossible. He slowly stroked his gray beard as he considered how exactly this girl had managed such a feat. His bright blue eyes looking off into the distance as he considered the possible ways it could have been done and the possible applications of such an ability.

"She hadn't shown any signs of being a muggleborn before. As you know, Dumbledore-senpai, most magical children show some form of talent before they are seven years old. Even the late bloomers may remain undetected until ten. But this girl is already twelve, and the appearance of her magical abilities are sudden. So sudden at to be consider spontaneous." Amakasu Touma said as the man shook his head slowly. He was dressed in a sharp muggle business suit rather than the traditional robes. Robes weren't very popular among Japanese wizards due to public embarrassment at being mistaken for 'weeaboos'. His black hair was pulled back in a ponytail and his eyes remained closed most of the time.

"I see." Dumbledore replied. "While I am very interested in meeting this talented young girl, I am still curious as to why you saw fit to call me here." Dumbledore said, not so subtly telling the man to get to the bloody point.

"Well, her magic was preformed in front of several dozen muggles." Touma continued to explain. "As such, she was expelled from the Japanese wizarding school, before we actually checked to see if she was even enrolled in it." The Japanese man chuckled. "I'm afraid that with the bureaucracy being what it is, we are finding it very difficult to remove such an decision. As such, she cannot enter into our school. At least, not for her first term, as the campus has a ward around it to prevent expelled students from returning. Something placed down by an old bitter Headmaster. No offense."

"So you wish for her to attend my humble campus until things may be sorted out." Dumbledore said with a smile. He liked the idea. Introducing new points of view into a school can cause all kinds of learning, not to mention he was still interested in the girl's magic.

While it was not uncommon for untrained wizard's magic to act up, it was never as powerful as purposeful magic. So yes, a child might apparate without the use of a wand, but it was never more than a few feet. They might grow back all of their hair after their head is shaved bald, but it would take an entire night. They might vanish the dirty dishes from the sink, but the dishes will return soon enough, along with the angry mother who wanted them washed.

But even a trained wizard would find it next to impossible to do what this girl was reported to having done.

"She is a little old to be entering Hogwarts as a first year. But perhaps we could spend the last month of summer bringing her up to speed." Dumbledore finished.

"Actually, we are not sure if the jinx that forbids her entry to our campus can ever be undone." Touma said weakly. "We will need her to stay with your school until she comes of age, by Japanese standards, at fifteen. The only other option would be to let her run around untrained."

"Ah. Yes, some jinxs can be rather stubborn." Dumbledore said, nodding in an understanding fashion. After all, the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at his school had been cursed for nearly nine years at this point. He was running out of people willing to take the job. This year he had to hire a complete idiot. Some book celebrity, the bloke was a complete fake. Oh well, he would get his just desserts before the year was through. "So when can I expect to meet this mystery girl?"

"I am supposed to visit her with you as soon as this briefing is over." Touma explained as he got up. "I have a car waiting out front. Do you have any clothes that would blend in with a muggle crowd, Dumbledore-senpai?"

Dumbledore smiled and nodded as he got up, waving his wand in order to change his close before walking out after the man.

* * *

Orihime was starting to get a better handle on where and, more importantly, when she was. It was a little complicated to figure out just what events had happened and which ones hadn't yet, or might never. The whole time travel thing gave her a headache at times as she tired to figure out the 'done, did, and will do's of it all. Her little spirits all arguing the philosophy of it all didn't help much, either.

On top of all that, she had woken up the morning after preventing her brother from dying in the accident to find that her hair had grown back to its previous length and was half way down her back again. Her brother had been surprised, but he had also been pleased with it. He had always liked his little sister's long hair.

The letter they had received right after they had gotten home the day of the accident had confused them, but as the third day drew to an end, they wondered if the people who sent the letter were going to be coming at all.

Orihime was scrubbing the dishes clean after her and her brother's dinner when she noticed a stronger than normal spiritual presence stopping outside their apartment and heading towards the stairs. Blinking a little at the oddness of the spiritual energies, she dried her hands and went to the door.

Feeling them stop on the other side of the door, she opened it before they had a chance to ring the doorbell. "Hello there. How my I help you good sirs." She asked in a cheerful voice as she looked up at the two individuals. "I assume you two are here about that confusing letter the nice owl dropped off."

One was a fairly normal looking man in a business suit, with a bit of a nine-o-clock shadow going on and black hair tied back in a pony tail. He was clearly Japanese and had a very unconvincing smile on his face. He seemed really tired.

The other was a very old man with a large whitish gray beard and hair that was a rather tangled mess. He had a much more believable smile and his bright blue eyes were rather inviting. Though he had a very strange way of dressing, walking around in a sleeveless white shirt and green and orange plaid shorts. He kind of looked like a hobo, but that was probably just because he wasn't familiar with what kind of clothes normal people wore. Orihime could remember how Renji had dressed like a hipster until Rukia had beat it out of him.

"That we are. Is your guardian home? We have much we need to discuss with the both of you." The older man said before chuckling. "Forgive me, I'm being rude. I haven't introduced myself. I am Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, though that is a mouthful, so how about we just leave it at Dumbledore, yes?" The man said with a wink. Orihime laughed a little at the man's funny name.

"Of course Dumbledore-sensei, I'm Inoue Orihime, it is a pleasure to meet you. My Nee-san is home right now, and we would love to have your company. Are you a fan of green tea?" Orihime introduced herself with a small bow.

"Yes, that would be wonderful." Dumbledore said as he entered along with the other man.

"Nee-san! The people who sent the owl are here!" Orihime shouted as she led Dumbledore and Touma to the kitchen area and started to put some water on to boil.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are the two of you? You don't seem like Shinigami, they have red soul ribbons, and you aren't Quincys or Bounts, because they can mask their presence. But you don't seem to be normal either." Orihime said as she started to get the tea packages. "Cookies?" Orihime asked, offering them a plate.

"Shinigami, Quincys; I am surprised you are familiar with those names. I was under the impression you were unaquanted with the more mystical world." Dumbledore said as he took one of the cookies. Touma was wide eyed beside the Headmaster after hearing of those old races.

"I am friends with some of them. Or I was... I will be?" Orihime said putting a finger to her lips. "Ugh, its so confusing to think about."

Dumbledore chuckled. "It certainly sounds like it is. But to answer your question, we are wizards." Orihime looked a little surprised, but before she could ask any more questions, her brother's door opened.

Sora came out and looked down at the two men. He might have been confused about the letter, he might have been feeling rather put off by their appearance, but he was still a Japanese man and wanting to set a good example for his little sister, so he preceeded as if nothing was the matter.

"Welcome, I'm Inoue Sora, Orihime's elder brother. May I ask who I have the pleasure of addressing." Sora said with a pleasant smile as he sat down across from the two men.

"Of course, I am Professor Dumbledore, and this is my friend, Amakasu Touma. It is a pleasure to meet you, Inoue-san. Thank you for your hospitality, I am sorry for the trouble." Dumbledore said with a smile.

"No trouble at all, Dumbledore-sensei." Sora said with a bow of the head.

"Inoue-san, we are here to talk to you and your sister about what had occurred last Sunday, are your parents around?" Touma asked.

Sora's face looked a little queazy at the question. He glanced over at his little sister. While Orihime had been too young to really remember their parent's abuse, it had filled most of Sora's memories, and he was uncomfortable with talking about them. "I am afraid that it is just us. I've been Orihime-chan's legal guardian since I turned eighteen." Sora said, looking back to the two men.

Dumbledore looked sad. He had seen people act like this in the past. He could guess why the two were living without their parents, and part of him felt proud of the boy for taking care of his little sister.

"I see. Then we might as well begin while we are waiting on the tea. Dumbledore-senpai and I are what you would call 'wizards', and we are here because Orihime-chan is starting to show signs of magic, and we would like to offer to train her to become a witch." Touma said with a smile. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. Rip the bandaid off much? It was rather direct.

"A... a witch?" Sora said in surprise glancing down at his sister who looked just as confused as he was. "So, when I almost died in that car accident. You used magic to save me?"

"Something like that." Orihime admitted. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just didn't know how to explain it. I still don't know how to explain it."

"When did this start?" Sora asked her.

"That... is a hard question to answer." Orihime said, twiddling her thumbs in a nervous gesture. "Did, done, will do..." She mumbled before shaking her head. "I really don't know. It's all too confusing for me to understand."

"Ms. Inoue, I would like to extend an invitation to attend my school in England, Hogwarts. It is one of the finest in the world." Dumbledore said, sounding a little proud of that fact.

"England! But that's so far." Sora said, sounding unhappy with the idea. Orihime also didn't look too pleased.

"Isn't there one closer by?" Orihime asked. She had just gotten her brother back. She didn't want to leave him just let.

"How close it is does not make much difference I am afraid, as all magic schools are boarding schools." Dumbledore said, shaking his head. He didn't want to go into the process of explaining that she was expelled before ever even entering the school and that they couldn't undo it. "And with magical transportation being what it is, the distance between there and home will not be any different. You will still be able to visit on breaks if you so choose."

"A boarding school. I don't know." Sora said, looking down at his little sister. He had always been over protective of her, always worried. Having her out of his sight for days on end was not a comfortable thought.

"Perhaps, a trial run?" Dumbledore suggested, glancing between the two. "As Ms. Inoue is starting a year later than expected, how about we experiment with what is left of the summer?"

"What do you mean?" Sora asked, looking straight into Dumbledore's eyes. He didn't notice the older man casting a calming charm on him.

"It's simple really. We will set up a method of transport between this house and my school. Then she can go back and forth between during the weekends, and spend the week days learning magic. At the end of summer, she can decide for herself if she wishes to continue. Sound reasonable?" Dumbledore said, glancing from the brother to the sister. "Or you could even come and join her at the school for a few days to see for yourself how it is."

"I... suppose that it couldn't hurt to give it a try." Sora said, glancing to his little sister to see what she thought. In the end, it was her life.

"I'd like to try it out. It could be nice." Orihime said with a supportive smile to her older brother.

"Splendid. I will come by tomorrow to arrange everything and we can go and get the school supplies you will be in need of." Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together. "Now, how about that tea." Orihime nodded as poured each of them a cup, making sure to serve the guests first. "Ah, thank you. Nothing quite like tea to help with the old nerves."

"You're welcome, Dumbledore-sensei." Orihime said with a large smile. "I've never seen a wizard before. How do you do that trick with the rabbit and the hat?"

Touma closed his eyes and did a sharp intake of breath at the comment, but Dumbledore laughed good naturedly. "Well, it would seem that little Inoue would like a demonstration." He chuckled as he pulled out a long wand from seemingly nowhere and tapped it on the table.

Orihime could feel the spiritual energy shifting at the command the man was giving. The small spirits contained within the objects connected to the table being drawn in by his power of suggestion. Then she laughed as the teacups began to dance about while the tea pot started to play a funny tune, the old wizard moving his wand like a conductors baton, humming along a little off tune with the music. Sora looked surprised, but didn't comment on any of it.

Once the little display was over, Orihime started to clap. "Wow, I've never seen anyone do something like that before!" She said, laughing. Most of the magic she had seen had been military magic, binding and destructive spells, maybe a little healing and the opening of gateways.

"While I thank you for your applause, this was nothing special." Dumbledore said with a chuckle. "Though I must say that I am more impressed by the things I heard you do, healing your brother the way you did. I can't help but wonder how you did it. Normal healing magic couldn't have done what you did in such a short period of time."

Orihime smile faded a little and she looked a bit nervous. "Yes... I know it is a bit different. It's called 'Sōten Kisshun'." Orihime said.

Dumbledore blinked and glanced over at Touma who just shrugged. "I beg your pardon, I've never heard that name before. What manner of spell is it?"

He had been expecting an answer along the lines of a charm, but when she did start to explain it, it was very different. "I can reject events. Erase the history connected with the injury and the injury disappears." Orihime said. This time, it was her turn to show off. She picked up a tea cup and smashed it on the table.

"Orihime!" Sora shouted in surprise as the tea cup had been empty but the shards still scattered a small distance.

"Sōten Kisshun, I reject." Orihime whispered. Dumbledore's eyes widened as the girl's hair pins began to glow and two spirits floated out of them taking up positions on either side of the broken cup and creating a field around it. The pieces of pottery were pulled back together, and after just a moment, it looked as if nothing had ever happened. "See." Orihime said, holding up the cup.

Dumbledore wasn't looking at the cup. His eyes were stuck on the two spirits that hovered around the girl. "My word." He mumbled before looking to the brother. "Tell me, can you see them." He asked the man, pointing up towards the spirits.

Sora blinked, looking away from the cup and up towards where Dumbledore was pointing. "I... I don't know what you mean by 'them'?" Sora said as he squinted at empty air.

"He can't see us. We are the Shun Shun Rikka." One of the two spirits said. A blond with a long ponytail.

"I don't believe it, spirit actualization." Dumbledore mumbled in surprise. Though the beings weren't just transfigured pieces of glass or the forms of spells. They were the actual spirits of the objects granting themselves form.

"Is something wrong, Dumbledore-sensei?" Orihime asked, tilting her head as the spirits returned to the hairpins.

Dumbledore smiled. "No. Nothing is wrong. I am just starting to get a bit more excited for the year to come."


	4. Chapter 4

Dumbledore sat quietly in Inoues' guest room. The older brother had insisted that Dumbledore be allowed to stay. The Headmaster liked that about Japan. The extreme lengths that people went through to show their hospitality expanding beyond the simple offer of coffee you get in Scotland, and even then, they never used the good coffee and weren't very polite about anything else.

The room was as well furnished and clean as the others, though it didn't show too much sign of having been used. The bed was very comfortable, though Dumbledore had no intention of using it. He had fully expected to have been extremely busy on this trip, and so had taken a rejuvenating potion in order to help in stay energized, even after the time change. So he wouldn't be sleeping for another two days.

He doubted he could have slept in the first place. This girl, Inoue Orihime, was extraordinary, truly extraordinary. Her healing ability was like nothing he had ever heard of in his entire life. The list of possible applications of such a skill was endless. He couldn't even begin to image what could be done. The ability to undo any event; a power like that could possible even reverse death. It was beyond the range of ordinary magic, brushing up against the doors of godhood.

Not only that, but the spirits themselves that she interacted with, they weren't forms of transmutation or a conjured force, they were actualized spirits.

All magic, regardless of type, worked through the 'Animism Theory'. In it, spirits are similar to atoms in the muggles Atomic Theory, in that they are the source of everything, the fundamental building blocks of the universe.

Every object, no matter the size, shape or purpose, has a spirit. This spirits tells the object what it is and how it interacts with the world around it. For example, a rock has a spirit of a rock, it tells the rock that it is supposed to fall down because of gravity, it tells it that it is supposed to reflect the color grey when hit by light, it tells it that it is hard, and that if it breaks it becomes small pebbles.

Magic works by using the spirit of the wizard or witch in order to change the spirit with the power of suggestion. The different types of suggestion being the different types of magic.

Charms works off of bending the rules for interactions placed down by the spirit. Going back to the rock example, one could tell the rock that it is supposed to fall, but to the side, not down. Or that when it is broken that it becomes rocks of equal size to the original instead of pebbles. A house could be made to believe that it is supposed to be larger on the inside than on the outside. The only limit being that it has to come from an interaction that the spirit already has.

Enchanting takes a quality that the spirit already has and enhances it. One could enchant a sword which is already sharp, hard, and durable and convince the spirit to be even sharper, or harder, or resistant to ware. Again, limited to the traits the spirit already holds.

Transfiguration and conjuring both worked by forming a pseudo spirit and having it over right the old one. Convincing the beetle that it was actually a button, or the matchstick that it was a needle. Though the pseudo spirit cannot last forever, so if the original spirit does not take to the new spirit's natures, the process will reverse itself.

A jinx places new traits or interactions upon the spirit, though under conditions. A man could be jinxed so that his mother's back breaks every time he steps on a crack. Or a clock can be made to spin according to the conditions of the people connected to it. Or that the DADA teach will somehow lose their job within one year. The conditions are usual rather odd, making most jinxes rather useless, and most turn out to just be spiteful or downright evil. Thus jinxes have a bad name.

Hexes are another type of spell that has a bad name, as they are the opposite of enchantments, weakening an existing trait. Causing stones to disintegrate, crops to wither, emotions to be drained. They can be used for good, but they using are very unpleasant.

Curses are even more so, as they destroy an existing trait or interaction, causing horrible damage to the spirit involved. So while a well placed curse could disable a poison, it could also end someone's life, or remove their ability to resist a command. While these days, jinxes, hexes and curses are named based on just how harmful they are, they began as being different things entirely, with some gentle versions referred to as counter curses or jinxes, or simply charms, just to not scare off the average witch or wizard.

However, none of these descriptions matched what the girl was doing. Taking ordinary objects and producing independent spirits from them.

Spirit Actualization, a magical trait as rare as finding a Parseltongue with True Sight, and was also believed to be connected to one's bloodline. In short, it was the power to take the spirits within objects and grant them a level of independence, letting them form themselves and choice their own properties using the magic allowed to them by the witch or wizard. Dumbledore had read about this trait before, but he had never actually seen one.

The most famous individual with this trait had been Helga Hufflepuff herself, though her more resent descendents didn't show it. Dumbledore himself was starting to doubt that the Smiths actually were descendants of Helga, as they were rather disloyal, self interested, rude, and lazy. No one could demand that they prove it though, so they just never tried to have a blood test and continued to claim statue through familiar ties to the old blood. It simply meant that the Hufflepuff vault was off limits to them, not that it really mattered, since they were fairly wealthy without.

Spirit Actualization was the power that had made Hogwarts what it is, a living castle, able to adapt and survive as the years went by. The sorting hat was another example of this magic. Changes in the nature of the spirit that excided what could be produced by mere charms and jinxes, because the host spirit was not fighting the change, it was embracing it, and helping it along.

The 'Shun Shun Rikka', Six Princess Shielding Flowers, spirits who had changed their nature in order to guard their holder, gaining abilities that transcended normal magical limits in order to do so. Dumbledore had hit the jockpot.

The guilt of such selfish thoughts was kept at bay by the curiosity of the girl's powers. How she could adapt and grow in his school. The origin of this known blood trait in a girl who was supposed to be a muggle.

Perhaps she was a true descendant of Hufflepuff. Her burnt orange hair made her look more like a Weasley than a Japanese girl, and crystal blue eyes were definitely uncommon to Japan.

Dumbledore casually stroke the long neck of his Phoenix, Fawkes. The magnificent bird, whose feathers were all the colors of the most brilliant of fires, had come with him as a means of transportation and had taken to the small girl immediately. The Phoenix was actually rather unwilling to let the girl go to sleep, even though they would have to be up around two at night to make up for the massive time difference between England and Japan.

Fawkes's head kept shifting towards the wall between his room and the one Orihime was sleeping in. "You really do like that girl, don't you?" Dumbledore mumbled to the bird. "Or perhaps you just wish to make this old man feel jealous. Maybe I should find myself a nice youthful owl..." Fawkes gave an indignant sound before huddling closer to Dumbledore who chuckled. "I only jest. Don't worry." He laughed as the bird pulled at his beard in vengeance for the poor joke. Dumbledore looked down at Fawkes. "Tell me old friend, how would you feel about giving just one more feather?"

Fawkes's head tilted to the side before it gave a beautiful call and nodded. It was a clear yes. Dumbledore grinned, his usual playful twinkle in his eye. "Then we best hurry, if we want it done on time." He said before conjuring some parchment and ink and writing off a quick letter.

'My dear Ollivanders-'

* * *

"Come on lazy bones!" Tsubaki shouted as he pulled on the sleeping Orihime's hair, pulling her head up off her pillow.

"Iteeh! Please let go, Tsubaki-kun! I'm up! I'm up!" Orihime cried as her more rambunctious spirit pulled at her long hair.

"Tsubaki, there is no need for such brutishness." Hinagiku, the lean and bald spirit scolded as Orihime cried out. Hinagiku was one of the more clever of the spirits, though his cartoonish space alien appearance did make it a little hard to take him seriously, a trait he shared with the other two points on Orihime's shielding formation.

"Shut up! If she is going to do this witch thing, then she better take it seriously! We don't have time to waste with random nonsense!" Tsubaki shouted.

"We have three years, there is no need to be so harsh." Baigon said. The last of the male spirits was rather slow and gentle, being the largest spirit. He had a tiger tail type hair cut and seemed less of a talker than most of the others. He was actually a lot like Chad in that way.

"With that kind of attitude, we won't be able to make any difference at all!" Tsubaki shouted, turning on the speaker.

"It's alright Tsubaki-kun." Orihime said, getting her spirits to stop fighting amongst each other. "I know this is taking a chance, but we need to expand beyond what we could do before. I am going to take this seriously, so don't worry." She said, giving the black themed spirit her wide smile.

Tsubaki looked at her for a moment before grumbling. "Just keep in mind what you are fighting for. Your determination is all of our strength." Then his eyes moved towards the door where they could sense Dumbledore standing just outside. "Are you going to just stand there ease-dropping, or are you coming in!" Tsubaki shouted.

The door slowly opened, relieving Dumbledore standing there, just a little embarrassed. "It looks as though I have been found out. I apologize, I was coming to make sure you are awake but I didn't want to intrude with such a heated debate going on." Dumbledore said as he stepped into the room.

Orihime shook her head. "It's alright Dumbledore-sensei, we'll be ready in just a minute." Orihime said with her usual cheerful way.

"Ah, then I will meet with you in the kitchen when you are ready." Dumbledore said, returning the smile and bowing his head before leaving again, closing the door behind him.

"I don't like that guy." Tsubaki grumbled, not loud enough for Orihime to hear, but loud enough for the other spirits.

"Tsubaki-kun doesn't like anybody." Lily giggled the pink haired spirit as she flew around.

"Well I especially don't like this one!" Tsubaki continued, crossing his arms as he glared at the doorway, keeping track of Dumbledore's spiritual energy in order to make sure he wasn't still behind the door. "The bastard reminds me of Ichimaru! We can't trust him!" The other spirits looked at each other, each thinking of that silver haired rogue Captain and his unreadable grin.

"We will just have to keep a close eye on him, to protest the Princess." Hinagiku whispered, getting an agreement from everyone.

They all noticed Orihime yawning and flew over too her. "Orihime-chan, maybe we should return to the hairpins. You are going to have a long day, no reason to waste energy." Shun'ō said softly to the girl as she had her new shirt half way on.

"No... I need to get stronger, and if I can get more used to having you all out at once, then maybe that will help." Orihime said as she managed to pull the tshirt over hear head. "This will be my training for today."

"I guess that is all we can do for training, isn't it." Tsubaki said, nodding his head in approval. "Alright, we'll push the limit, but don't hurt yourself. We don't need to waste time with you recovering."

Orihime smiled knowing full well that was as much gentle caring as Tsubaki would let himself show. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to keep it together." Orihime said with a nod as she went for the door.

* * *

Sora was sitting at the table when Dumbledore entered the kitchen. "Ah, it is good to see you up." Dumbledore said with a cheerful smile as he waved his wand towards the fridge and stove. A pan came out of the cupboard and landed on a running burner as a few eggs came out of the fridge. As the eggs flew over the pan, the shells dissolved and they fell into it.

Sora watched the entire display with half dazed, half disturbed eyes. "I... couldn't sleep." He said in a quiet voice. "A lot to take in."

"Yes. I suppose it is. If it makes you feel better, you are taking it better than most I have seen." Dumbledore said giving the man a wink which did nothing to ease the old brother.

"Not really what I meant." Sora replied with a shake of his head. "I mean... Orihime-chan was able to do... whatever it was that she did. She never told me. I never had the slightest hint that their was anything like that going on." He sounded guilty as his shoulders sank. "I had only expected that she might have been getting bullied in school. I was talking to the neighbors to try to find out. I felt like I could fix something like that. But this, this is beyond anything I could have imagined."

Dumbledore nodded. "We see only what our eyes can see. Only the foolish and the enlightened dare to look beyond that. But you know now, does that make you feel any differently for your sister? Do you resent her?" Dumbledore asked Sora watching at the horrified look in the boy's eyes.

"Never." Sora gasped.

"Then there is nothing to be guilty about. You are a good man, though admittedly rather young. You took a heavy burden onto your shoulders and have managed it well. You sister is a fine young girl." Dumbledore said nodding his head as he moved his wand again to flip the eggs. "When things change, it is too easy to get caught up in wondering about what we don't know. Those truths that lurk in the darkness. Just concentrate on the light ahead of you and never let it out of your sight."

Sora gave a sad smile. "Thank you Dumbledore-sensei, but that might not be the best advice to give someone who almost died in a car crash."

Dumbledore gave a good natured chuckle at the bad joke. "No, I suppose it isn't."

"Nii-san! I'm ready to go!" Orihime said, running around the corner and skidding to a halt in the doorway. Her big smile filled her entire face, cheering her older brother up considerably. Dumbledore's eyes were more interested in the six little people who were flouting around her head.

"Good morning, Orihime-chan." Sora said, returning the smile as Dumbledore finished off the preparation of breakfast.

"Good morning, Nii-san, Dumbledore-sensei." Orihime said as she took her seat next to her brother.

"Now, Orihime-san, I forgot to enquire if you were skilled at speaking English?" Dumbledore asked, as he cut into his egg.

Orihime frowned for half a second as she switched what language she was thinking in. "I can get by, though it isn't my favorite." She said in nearly flawless English, her accent was there, but it wasn't too heavy to understand.

Sora chuckled weakly. "I feared it been severn yers sinse I lat spoke English." Sora said, his English far worse than his sister's. It was hard to even decipher what he said. He looked a little ashamed about it.

"Ah, that shouldn't be too much of a problem, just make sure to stick close." Dumbledore said, nodding his head. "I will try to translate anything you are unable to understand." Fawkes returned in a burst of flames that didn't seem to burn anything. Sora jumped in shock but Orihime just laughed as the bird circled about before landing on the back of her chair. "It seems as though our ride has returned. Now are you two ready?" The siblings nodded as they got up. "Well then let's go."

* * *

"Oh wow! We managed to get all the way around the world so fast! Nii-san, this is all so incredible!" Orihime shouted as she looked from window to window, looking as excited as many muggleborn children on their first time to Diagon Alley. She seemed blissfully unaware of her brother's worried looks. Or maybe she was putting on this show for his sake, in order to try to comfort him.

Dumbledore felt sorry for the young man. The Headmaster of Hogwarts had seen many children in his time, and many sad pasts, so he had a feeling he knew the story. Inoue Sora had been abused as a child before running away with his little sister in order to protect her. A noble, and brave act, and one that paid off, as Orihime skipped happily through the street, but sadly, the turmoil from his time under the same roof as his parents still showed.

He was nervous and uncomfortable with the sudden change of pace. He was putting on a brave face for his little sister, enduring everything that came, but it was extremely hard on him. Everything that happened was not good for a man of his temperament. Dumbledore made a small mental note to get the man some anxiety potion while they were out shopping. Something to take the edge off of things.

"Um, Professor Dumbledore." Orihime said, practicing her English. "Where are we supposed to be going right now?"

Dumbledore smiled, using Japanese for the sake of Sora as they walked along. "First things first, we need to get some currency to help with the shopping. After that, we will see about getting you your own wand." Dumbledore said, glancing around the street and up towards Gringotts, the wizarding bank. "Right over there will be our first stop." Dumbledore said, pointing to the large structure.

As they walked through the streets, several dozens of people called out to Dumbledore by name in order to greet him. The elderly man exchanging some small talk with some of them, but never taking long as they moved along.

"You seem to be quiet popular." Sora said in surprise.

"Well, I am the Head Master of the most prestigious magic school in Great Britain." Dumbledore said with a smile. "Though admittedly, it is the only magic school in Great Britain." He added with a chuckle. "Most of these people were once upon a time my students." He said, sounding rather proud of that fact.

"I... I see. You must have made a lasting impression, Dumbledore-sensei." Sora said, nodding as he followed the older man. It made him feel a little better to know that the man had a good reputation among his peers. Though that good feeling was put through the ringer as they walked into Gringotts and past the squat, wrinkled creatures with huge noses.

"They're goblins. Don't worry, they are mostly harmless. Not really any reason for you to be afraid. Just don't try to cheat them out of anything. They really don't like that." Dumbledore said, seeing Sora's reaction to the goblins.

"Enter, stranger, but take heed; Of what awaits the sin of greed; For those who take..." Hinagiku mumbled as the spirit read the sign that hung above in the hallway. "Probably a good thing your brother cannot read this, Princess."

"Not too worried about scaring away costumers are they?" Shun'ō agreed.

"Hm... maybe if they had a giant pair of arms holding it up..." Orihime mused, earning a sigh for her spirits. They loved the girl to death, but she wasn't the kind of person who could take things seriously, and her preferred company of Rangiku, Yoruichi, and Kukaku Shiba did nothing to help that.

Dumbledore led them up to one of the front desks and smiled at the goblin behind the counter, the goblin only returned a sneer. "How may I be of service, Mr. Dumbledore?" Sora shivered a bit a the sight of the goblin's teeth, though Orihime grabbing his hand and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Well, we will be needing to exchange some money so that Orihime here can get some school supplies." Dumbledore said cheerfully. "But before that, I think it might be a good idea to check her bloodline."

The goblin looked down at the girl before giving a small huff and jumping down from his seat. "Follow me."

"Bloodline? Why would we need to check Orihime-sama's bloodline? She doesn't have any magical family." Lily asked as the group followed the goblin towards a back room full of papers.

"We, it is unlikely, but there's no harm in checking." Dumbledore said with a small shrug, trying to brush off the question. "It only requires one drop of blood on some charmed paper, and then we can know for sure."

"There is something you ain't saying." Tsubaki said angrily. "Spill it."

"Well then I suppose I might as well." Dumbledore said, not wanting to get the spirits angry with him. He did dislike using needless amounts of time explaining his plans when they may not even work out, especially when it would be faster to just check and move on. He had long since realized that information was power, a power greater than any single spell. So he ended up as a bit of a hoarder of secrets. "I believe that Orihime may be a descendent of one of the founders of Hogwarts. Whether she is or isn't does not matter really, but I have to admit I am curious, and as I said, there is no harm in trying."

"Then why bother looking at all? 'Curiosity' isn't exactly a good enough motive if you ask me." Lily said as she flew along in a laid-back position. She was being more subtle than Tsubaki about her questioning. "What makes you think our Orihime-sama is descended from this Founder person anyways?"

"It doesn't seem likely. I was born in Japan." Orihime said, shaking her head. "And I'm pretty sure none of our family were magical before me."

"Actually, it is your power that makes me believe. Helga Hufflepuff had a similar ability involving the manifestation of spirits other than ones own, and it is very rare." Dumbledore said, glancing at the spirits again. "Whether or not you really are her descendant will have no effect on getting you into school. However, the descendants of the four founders of Hogwarts are considered to be something close to nobles in wizarding Britain. Something that might come in handy for Orihime later on in her life."

Orihime blinked at the word nobles. It brought back memories of Rukia, and a sense of loneliness along with it. She missed her old life and friends. She remembered the days they spent together, going shopping or training, sometimes just hanging out, talking about mundan things that seemed to interest the girl who was still getting used to the mortal world. It hurt Orihime a little, the knowledge that she never even got a chance to say goodbye.

Feeling the sudden sadness, Ayame flew down next to Orihime's cheek and pressed herself up against her in order to whisper in her ear. "Don't worry. We well see them all again, and it will be even better this time around." The shy spirit whispered to her.

"Right. We need to make sure that they will all be happy." Orihime said as she perked herself up.

Dumbledore watched this small exchange, wondering, not for the first time, what they were taking about. The girl was completely incomprehensible at times, giving small hints of her life that didn't add up, but at the same time, he wasn't able to ask her anything directly because the spirits would get upset with him.

She had been in contact with both the thought to be gone Quincys and the ever aloof Death Gods. She had claimed to have been friends with some of them, but hadn't even known that Wizards existed. She had moments when she started saying that she had to prepare for something, but Dumbledore couldn't understand what. Could it be that she also had a form of True Sight and knew of some horrible event that was to come? It was very unlikely, though not impossible. Though a bloodline magical enough to have both Spirit Actualization and True Sight somehow going dormant was extremely unlikely.

The goblin got out a piece of paper and a needle and held them out the Orihime. "Just one drop on the paper will do it." The goblin said, seeming a little less than interested.

"Alright." Orihime said as she took the paper and pressed the needle into her left thumb before putting it down onto the paper before handing it back to the goblin.

The goblin's eyes scanned over the paper before widening, eyebrows going up so far as to shift his entire bald head backwards by a few inches. "I see... what would Lady Inoue be requiring of us today?" He said, trying his best to smile, which ended up showing more teeth than Sora would have been comfortable seeing, though Orihime herself hardly noticed. She had been pretty close to Captain Zaraki for a few days. Very little could compare to him on the scary scale, and she thought he was kind of nice, once you got to know him. Something that never stopped making people slack jawed.

The paper was passed back, and Dumbledore smiled as he caught a glance. Sure enough, there on the page was the name Hufflepuff, in the middle of a short list of ancestors that had been registered with the bank. "I... ah... well I'm..." Orihime stumbled, not really knowing what they were supposed to be doing. She had kind of just been following along. She scowled herself a little for not being more in control of things. "Well, what can I do?" She asked, trying to seem confident. Something that was hard to do when you had the body of a twelve year old, and using a language that wasn't your native one.

"Well, as the only proven descendant of the Noble House of Hufflepuff, you hold the right to reopen its vault." The goblin said.

"Alright... I guess we could do that." Orihime said, not really sure what he was talking about.

The goblin nodded before making for a large filing cabinet. He looked over some of the tabs and opened on up to reveal a twelve foot long drawer before pulling out a small stack of forms. As the filing cabinet closed, the goblin waddled back to them and presented Orihime with the papers. "Sign here, please." He said, pointing to a spot on the page.

Orihime did as she was told, and the moment her signature was on the page, a bass key materialized out of it, falling into the goblin's waiting hand. "Would you like to see the vault now? I believe you said you wished to withdraw some monetary funds."

"Um... yes, I do need to make a withdraw, thank you." Orihime said giving the goblin a grateful smile and a bow, leaving the squat creature a little taken aback.

"Very well, would your entire party be joining you in visiting the vault, or do you wish to go alone?" The goblin asked, his eyes looking over Dumbledore and Sora.

"I believe it would be for the best if we sat this one out." Dumbledore said placing a hand on Sora's shoulder.

"Wha? What did he say?" Sora asked in Japanese, he had been unable to follow what had been going on.

"Our good man here is going to lead Orihime-chan to her vault, though it might be for the best if you not join her. The goblin's methods of transport have been known to be rather jarring, and I am afraid you already look quiet uneasy." Dumbledore explained to the man.

"Vault? What vault? Nothing dangerous is going to happen, is it?" Sora said looking to his sister, clearly worried.

"Don't worry Nii-san, I'll be fine." Orihime said with a wide smile. She must have been aware of how out of sorts her brother had been after all. She turned to the goblin and nodded, so the goblin started to lead her back into a side passage.

"Orihime..." Sora said, not wanting to be left alone in this strange place where people didn't even speak Japanese.

He nearly jumped when Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder. "While we are waiting, I believe we should visit a local potions shop I know. Get you a translation potion, and perhaps something to take the edge off of your nerves." Dumbledore said, giving the young man a pat on the back.

"A... translation potion?" Sora said, not sure he had heard correctly.

"Of course, this is the magical world Inoue-san, you will find that nearly everything is possible." Dumbledore said as he lead the young man back out.

* * *

Pridetooth was not sure what to think of the tiny girl who know followed him with a smile back into the back of the bank and towards the wagons. Her face was innocent, with large shining eyes and a chipper smile. Her dress was like a muggles and she seemed perfectly content with being around a nonhuman creature. But the thing that was getting to him, was her smell.

Goblins might not have been the most magically talented of creatures, but the thing that allowed them to work safely in the magical mine field like Gringotts was their noses. To put it bluntly, they could smell magic.

Pridetooth could honestly say that he had never smelled anything like the girl in his long years working for the wizarding bank. It was potent, and much stronger than any wizard that the goblin had meet before, with the possible exception of Dumbledore himself. She smelled like an entire field of wild flowers in full bloom, it was actually making the goblin feel ill standing next to the child. The strength of the smell compared to the greater beings that would come down to Earth from time to time after some stupid child goblin got a little too close to the dragon on a bet or some such rubbish, the Soul Reapers.

Those shepherds that come after death to pass on the souls of people who did not become ghosts. They were not unknown to the magical world, though they had always chosen to avoid the mortals politics. Something that was probably a smart idea. The minions of the one true god of death never stayed for long, but no goblin could stand to be in their presence.

"Right this way Lady Inoue." The goblin said, gesturing towards a rather unsafe looking coil mine wagon perched on very old rails.

"You don't have to address me like that." Orihime said a little flustered from the over the top formality. "Just Inoue will do, or you can call me Orihime if you want. I'd like that." She said giving her wide smile. The goblin twitched as the scent of flowers grew even stronger.

"Very well Ms. Inoue. Could you please step into the wagon?" Pridetooth said, pointing to the wagon once again.

"Yessir." Orihime said, climbing into without any question as to the safeness of the transportation. Something that was unusual among first timers. Pridetooth climbed in after her as tapped a finger on the metal surrounding the cart, causing it to speed forward on its tracks.

* * *

The Hufflepuff vault was not really very deep into the tunnels, since their had been a lot of expanding over the years. But it still had quite a few twists and turns to get through before one actually reached it. Enough to make most young goblins' heads spin, but the small orange haired girl was laughing the whole time, and seemed completely at ease with herself in the cart that most sane people would call a death trap.

Just another one of the oddities to add to the growing list for the girl. But if Pridetooth thought that was odd, he hadn't seen anything yet. For Hufflepuff was one of the oldest and most guarded vaults, and as such, it was guarded by a dragon.

"Where is that *****?" Pridetooth swore under his breath as they had reached the end of their trip, only to find that the goblin in charge of this particular dragon was missing. Not that he could have really blamed the old fool who was in charge of it, no one had gone to this particular vault in centuries, so skipping off to have a sleep was probably an easy to sneak off for a wink between rounds. Sadly, he had the horn that would scare the dragon into submission. "Please wait here. I will fetch a ho..."

"He's hurting." Orihime said, snapping the goblin out of this thoughts as the dragon's roar filled the chamber.

The dragon itself was nearly scales and completely blind, its wings and legs were covered in the cuts from the training it had received in order to break its will. Long brass chains covered in runes held it down to the ground. It was a revolting and dangerous thing. "Don't pity it, it is a monster that would kill you if it got the chance." The goblin spat, but his words fell on death ears. Orihime started to walk towards the dragon. "What are you doing, child!?" The goblin shrieked in panic.

The dragon sniffed the air and turned its head towards the approaching girl. It growled before tilting its head back. "I reject." It sounded like only a whisper, but it echoed through the empty cave.

As the white hot dragon fire poured out towards the small girl, three of the spirits that accompanied her formed up in front of her and orange and gold triangular shield made of pure light. The scent of flowers was overpowering and making Pridetooth dizzy as the fire struck the shield, moving around it at the edges as if it had it an unmovable wall.

No... that wasn't it. The fire wasn't pushed around the shield. All of the fire that came into contact with the orange and gold light simply disappeared, as if it never existed.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." Orihime said gently in Japanese as she drew closer to the dragon. The beast gave another cry before lashing out at the girl with a claw, but the shield still stood, even all the strength of the weakened dragon wasn't enough to cause even the slightest damage to the girl's barrier. The dragon itself seemed to be starting to panic as Orihime got close to it, moving to the ends of its chains to get away from the girl.

Then it stopped. Orihime had placed a hand on its chest. "Don't worry. It will all be okay." Orihime whispered to the dragon. "Sōten Kisshun, I reject."

* * *

"There, hopefully that hit the spot. How do you feel?" Dumbledore asked Sora after feeding him the two potions.

"I... I actually feel much better." Sora admitted in perfect English. "Thank you, Dumbledore-sensei."

"Do not meantion it my boy. It was such a little thing after all, and we do want you to feel comfortable." Dumbledore said, glad to see that the anxiety potion was working well enough. "Now let's go see if your sister has returned from her little trip, yes?"

"Of course." Sora said, hurrying to keep up with the older man. "I must admit, I am still not sure if leaving her alone there was a good idea. Are you sure she isn't hurt?"

"Don't worry. I assure you she could not be safer." Dumbledore said, waving off the older brother's worries.

They were just out side of Gringotts when the earth began to shake and people came pouring out in a panic. Before either man could ask what had happened, the roof of the building was torn off and a large black scaled dragon flew out into the sky, spewing firing from its open mouth as it screamed in a cry of release. Both Sora and Dumbledore's jaws dropped as the dragon turned and flew away.

After it was gone from sight, Sora fell to the ground in a dead faint, a wet patch appearing between his legs.

"It would seem we needed a stronger potion." Dumbledore mumbled as he waved his wand at the man to dry him and lift him up off of the street, carrying him into the bank in order to find out what had happened.

* * *

 **I'm in Australia right now, so I don't really have much time to write or steady access to the internet. So I'm posting while I can.**


	5. Chapter 5

"What were you thinking!?" Pridetooth screamed after they had returned to the main office, papers had been scattered everywhere after the dragon's take off had shaken the building. He was completely livid and had long since forgotten to be respectful. "You revitalized a dragon within a populated area and destroyed a large portion of Gringotts in the process! How did you even do that!? A child your age should not be capable of such magic!"

"Sorry." Orihime mumbled. "I just can't help it whenever I see someone in pain. Sorry..."

"It was a dragon, you idiot!?" The goblin shouted before giving a squeal of pain when Tsubaki kicked the goblin hard in its long nose.

"Back off short stuff. I'm not about to let you to yell at the Princess like that." Tsubaki growled, the other spirits gathering along side him. Small as they were, they seemed intimidating to the goblin.

"I'm sure the Hufflepuff vault has more than enough funds to repair the damage to the bank." Dumbledore said, still a little shocked after hearing of the events that had transpired at the vault; the powers that the young girl had brought forth in order to disregard dragon's fire and the beast's raw strength. The goblin's mouth twitched as he rubbed his nose. He glared at the spirits but only nodded his affirmative to Dumbledore's statement.

"I don't even get what the big deal is. That dragon was pretty wimpy. It shouldn't be that hard to capture it." Lily said as she flouted back into a casual position. "I mean, it couldn't put even a scratch into our shield." Dumbledore looked at the spirit with a curious expression while the goblin just gaped at it.

"I believe that your judgment is being clouded by prior experience." Hinagiku said, crossing his arms in a sage like manner. "Our shield has held up against the strikes of seated members of the Goten Thirteen. And while it is true that such individuals pale in comparison to the power of the Espada and the Captains, it would be safe to assume that your average Soul Reaper would still have a difficult time with a dragon. You can't expect mortal magic users to exceed the abilities of the Kido Corps."

"So that means I really did mess up bad." Orihime said, her shoulders sinking further.

"No Princess, don't threat! I'm sure that there are individual among the wizards that hold power above their peers, just like the Captains!" Hinagiku said quickly, trying to dispel the girl's gilt.

"Maybe, but I still caused this. Dumbledore-sensei, I'll go recapture the dragon for you." Orihime said, getting up out of her seat.

"No! No dear child!" Dumbledore said, breaking into a fit of coughs at his surprise at the girl would offer to go hunt down a full grown dragon. Not to mention how she treated said dragon as just a small thing. Sora paled at the thought of his sister hunting a dragon, though he had not heard the spirits speaking about how unthreatening a dragon was to them. "There is no need for that. Professionals have already been called upon. It is always best to leave these matters to those who have been trained properly to deal with them. They have there job and we have ours."

"Hmm... okay then." Orihime nodded before turning back to the goblin. "I'm really sorry. I hope everything works out." The girl bowed to him in a show of respect and regret, not noticing the goblin holding his nose.

"Yes yes, just get out of here! Next time send someone else as a proxy instead of coming yourself! I don't care who you send, just don't comeback!" The goblin's cries sounded funny with his held nose before he turned and left the room as quickly as possible. "I can't take her smell anymore." He grumbled as he passed Dumbledore who raised an eyebrow yet again. Another puzzle piece that made as little sense as all the others.

Orihime blushed as she raised her arm and sniffed at it. "Do I really smell?"

"Ah, well." Dumbledore stammered for a second before looking away. He wasn't about to answer that question. Long experience with child had taught him not to answer such questions. So he quickly changed the subject. "If we have the money you require, it is probably best if we went back to the task at hand, correct? Please, follow me."

* * *

"Orihime-chan, are you sure you are alright?" Sora asked for the sixth time. He couldn't understand how his dear little sister could be so happy with everything that was happening. The way she talked about a dragon, as if it was nothing more than a stray dog that had gotten off the leash. She wasn't afraid at all.

"I alright told you, I'm A-Okay!" Orihime said, making a fist pumping gesture and smiling full force at her brother. "But if you need to sit down for a bit we can. I guess you must have been surprised by the dragon."

"Surprised? I think scared out of my wits is a better description." Sora chuckled weakly as he admitted to his fears. "You're a whole lot braver than I am. It's almost like you aren't afraid of anything."

"Poor Sora-san, he doesn't even know." Ayame said softly, shaking her head. The gentle spirit gave the young man a pitying look, one that he couldn't see as she said sad words he couldn't hear. "It isn't that our princess isn't afraid of anything, it is that the things she does fear are so much greater than a mere dragon."

"That's for sure. Dragon? Ha! Something so weak can't even compare to a single Menus, the creatures we need to prepare for make it look like a overgrown lizard." Tsubaki scoffed, crossing his arms. "Are you sure that there is any reason for you to waste our time with these wizards? If that dragon makes them worried, then they can't be too powerful."

"It isn't that simple." Shun'ō said, flying up next to his more aggressive counterpart. "The Soul Reapers' entire society revolved around conflict, so if you looked at any given Soul Reaper, you would know they had some kind of skills that could be used in war. But look around you, there are wizards everywhere. They are performing civilian jobs. So not all of them have learned proper defense. I'm sure that the specialists that Dumbledore-san had mentioned are versed in forms of magic that could be helpful."

"I agree." Baigon nodded. "We shouldn't be so hasty to judge. We might overlook something important if we don't take our time to..."

"But we don't have time to waste!" Tsubaki growled angrily, interrupting the larger spirit.

"I don't believe this will be a waste of time." Hinagiku said throwing in his two cents and taking up a thoughtful pose next to his peers. "You might not remember this Tsubaki-san, but the Soul Reapers' Kido is not all about force. They had all kinds of spells; detection, tracking, sealing, binding, teleportation, hypnosis, illusions. Any number of which could have be infinitely useful while the princess was being held in..." Hinagiku stopped talking and glared towards Dumbledore who had slowed down to get closer to the spirits conversation.

Having been caught in the act of ease-dropping, Dumbledore tried to save face by engaging Orihime in conversation. "So Ms. Inoue, how has your first impression of Diagon Alley been so far?" The elder asked his soon too be student.

The orange haired girl gave a huge smile. "It's amazing! So many interesting things and people, I would have never expected to find something like this all in one place. Its like a giant Urahara Shop." She said then she looked a little sheepish. "Though I am afraid Diagon Alley's first impressions of me might not be as good."

"The Urahara Shop? What manner of store would that be?" Dumbledore asked, believing he had found a connection to start at for finding out who exactly this girl was. Though he was throw for a loop by the girls answer.

"Its a candy store." Orihime said, thinking back to how the underground Soul Reaper always referred to himself as a humble candy store owner.

"Ah, yes, I suppose coming her for the first time would be a similar experience to being in a candy store." Dumbledore said, trying to keep his disappointment out of his voice as the spirits snickered at him. "Though I hope the first store we go to here will be a bit more memorable than a candy store. After all, no witch or wizard ever forgets getting their very first wand."

"So wizards really do need to use wands to do magic?" Orihime asked curiously as they arrived outside of a rather rundown looking store. Not the kind of place that one would expect to find a life changing object to be held in, though the Urahara shop's look didn't give away any of the serious shit that went down in there.

"Well, yes and no. Magic can be called upon and preformed without the need of a wand, though doing so makes the result nearly impossible to control. The wand merely acts as a focus to help us give the magic form." Dumbledore explained. "You'll learn more about it once we get to Hogwarts. I believe it is taught in Charms right now. It used to be a Defense topic, but it has been so hard to find a reliable teacher for that class recently, so we moved some of the basics around so we can still guaranty our students get the fundamentals."

"You're having trouble finding teacher? But I thought you ran a high end school, how come it is difficult to find good instructors?" Sora asked, his brow creasing with confusion.

"Ah, that is a long story. I'm afraid that a few years back, an incredibly dark wizard, one so evil that most fear to even say his name, tried to apply for the job. Naturally I turned him away, throwing him from the castle. In response, he put a jinx on the position. No one has lasted more than a year since then." Dumbledore said with a disappointed sigh. "In the beginning, there were still plenty of determined individuals whose belief in teacher out weighed their fear of the jinx, but after fourteen instructors each suffering from horrible accidents, it is becoming harder and harder to find good help. This year, I'm afraid to say, I really had to scrape the bottom of the figurative barrel. I had a much better man ready for the job, but the government wouldn't grant me permission to hire him. Prejudice against werewolves is a serious issue. It is outdated, but the old families still hold on to it I'm afraid."

"A jinx... horrible accidents... werewolves?" Sora said in increasing shock.

"Quite." Dumbledore nodded. "But we have stood on the doorstep of the next adventure long enough." He reached over and opened up the door, gesturing with one hand he bowed to Orihime. "Ladies first."

* * *

'The wand chooses the wizard.' That was what Ollivander always said. He usually didn't add anything else about wandlore, or tell people that some wand types were more picky than others. Wand making was a complex process, in every way the equal to potion making, if not even more mysterious. And just like in potion making, some things just didn't go well together.

So Ollivander was shocked when he had received Dumbledore's message asking him to make a wand for a child. Well, that actually wasn't that shocking, but the fact that he was providing the core and requesting a type of wood before the child have ever shown up was rather confusing. Surely the elder wizard knew that there would be no guaranty that the wand would even accept the child as its wielder, actually, it was highly unlikely that it would. It was always best to let the wand choose, not try to force a coupling. But long time experience had taught him not to question Dumbledore. At least, not until afterwards. That leeway was being strained however at the requested combination of core and wood; phoenix tail feathers and ivy.

Anyone who spends time in wand making knows that each core type has its preference of holder, and so does each type of wood. The wielder must please both in order to get the best results, or any results. So when Dumbledore asked him to use these two contrasting natures, it made the wand maker puzzled.

Phoenix tail feather cores were proud, stubborn and unchanging, preferring a wealth of history and power as old as their source before they would even grudgingly submit to being used. Thus, holders of these wands were rarer than the less picky dragon heartstrings and unicorn hair cores. Only the best wizards would do, not just with power but they must be almost destined for greatness.

Ivy wood was nearly the complete opposite, it could best be described as desperate and insecure. They are draw to people who have nothing and wish to achieve something more, most often falling into the hands of muggleborns witches and wizards. It caused a joke among the pure bloods, that the muggleborns could not even handle real wood and had to work with a vine instead. Though holders of these wands often did achieve great things through their determination. These wands had a tendency to react to a wizard before they even entered the door of Ollivanders shop, trying to lay claim to what was theirs before any of the others could snatch it away.

The wand itself was a bit of a rush job. He didn't have enough time to polish it properly before Dumbledore and his guests arrived. Though it wasn't the door opening that let him know that they were there. The wand began to hum quietly, a humming that only one who trained themselves to sense the spirits within the wands would be able to detect. A trick that was used to try to match the spirits of the wands with the spirits of the wizards, decreasing the thousands of possible options down to only thirty or so.

Ollivander froze in surprise, not because of the wand's reaction alone, since the wand wasn't alone in its reaction. Dozens upon dozens of wands began to react, each one trying to let itself be known above the others; dragon heartstring and beechwood, unicorn hair and forest pine, kelpie hair and hawthorn; each wanting to be the first to be taken off the shelves. Each and every wand that held some degree of awareness was reacting to something. Some reactions were so powerful that they rattled in their boxes. Ollivander had never seen anything like it before. He was almost starting to panic, fearing some kind of chain reaction of magic would come from the wands and blow his shop out of existences. Then he felt it, a strong spiritual presence outside of his shop.

His eyes drifted to the door as he heard the little bell ring and saw a small girl, he guessed the first year that Dumbledore wanted the wand for, enter his small store. At first he mistook her for another Weasley, because of her brunt orange hair, but her face showed no sign of freckles. Her cheerful expression, completely vacant of any anxiety was a stark contrast to the normal child coming in to receive their very first wand.

But all of this seemed insignificant when he noticed what was flying around the girl. His jaw nearly dropped as his mind tried to figure out what they were, going through dozens of possible little winged creatures, but none matched. It was clear to him what they were, even if he had never seen one in such a state before. They were spirits. Manifested spirits free of physical coils. Six of them in varying outfits flew around the girl speaking in a language that Ollivander didn't understand.

He stood in the shadows, watching the newcomers with wide eyes until he noticed that the girl was staring straight at him, and so were the spirits. "Ohayō gozaimasu, I'm Orihime Inoue. You are Ollivander-san, right? It's nice to meet you. Though it is nice to meet you, even if you aren't." The girl was bubbly in her speech and gave a short but showy bow to the wandmaker who was surprised. He believed himself to be completely concealed at the moment, but she knew exactly where he was.

Two others walked in behind the girl, a young man, in his mid to late twenties and Dumbledore himself. The elder wizard had a pleased with himself smile on that made him wander just what was going on.

"Yes, I am Ollivander, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Inoue." Ollivander said, stepping forward and tucking the ordered wand into its box. "And Mr. Dumbledore, I assume you are taking good care of that wand of yours." Ollivander said, successfully hiding the longing in his voice.

Dumbledore chuckled and nodded. "Do not worry. I have been keeping it safe and taking good care of it."

"Ah, yes. Then I suppose you won't be needing me to take a look at it." He said, his shoulders giving a small shrug of disappointment. "But you have still come here today with business, so how about we get down to it. Which is the girl's wand arm?"

"My right!" Orihime said, grinning as she held up her right arm. Ollivander gave a silent sigh of relief. He hadn't been told which was the girl's dominant hand, so he took a guess. Luckily, it seemed his guess was correct.

Normally, at this point, the wand maker would start taking measurements of the girl's arm, as well as some of the head and legs, in order to predict how she will be when she is full grown and better match a wand to her eventual height. Wands tended to consider their possible owners based on how big they would be when they were full grown. But Ollivander didn't see the point in doing that now.

"Well then, how about we try you out with this wand first. Though I will tell you now, it isn't the wizard or witch who chooses the wand. The wand itself must choose." Ollivander said, holding out the box the girl.

Orihime took the box, but hesitated before opening it. "I'm afraid I don't know any magic spells. Yoruichi-sama only ever taught me to draw out my powers. I have never used a wand before." She said looking over to Ollivander with a hopeful expression, waiting for instruction.

The wandmaker was about to tell her that it was alright and that she simply needed to give the wand a flick of the wrist and they would now if it was a fit. But before he could, Dumbledore cut him off.

"I'm sure if you just repeat the process you used then, it shall work just fine." Dumbledore said to the girl, giving her an assuring smile. Ollivander frowned but didn't comment, just watched the girl's movements.

"Hm... I'll give it a try." Orihime said with a nod, taking a large breath and closing her eyes. Ollivander swallowed hard as the presence he had been feeling grew stronger and stronger. A sort of glow started to come from the girl, deep oranges and bright yellows swirling together in a bright golden mist. It's was breath taking to see and held the wandmaker's attention like a vise. "Just remember what Yoruichi-sama said... power is a weapon. To use it, you just need a reason to pick it up, a purpose." She whispered as she removed the lid and took the wand in hand. The world seemed to be spinning as all of the wands in the room were reacting to the waves of energy coming from the girl. Sora looked around in dumb shock, able to hear the wands rattling, but unable to see the light show that was happening around his sister. "Please, help me save everyone."

She raised the wand up and everyone else in the room gasped and moved back as the wand glowed bright, its surface turning from a wooden brown to a polished amber color as small coils of flames came from its tip. The fire grew bigger and bigger, pushing outwards until it completely covered the girl.

"Orihime!" Sora shouted in panic, moving forward to help his little sister only to have the fire press over him as well. He was about to scream, but then noticed that the fire was not hot to the touch, it merely passed over him, blanketing him and a gentle warmth. The flames were the shade and pattern of the most beautiful sunrise, not so bright as to hurt the eyes, but bright enough to obscure ones vision.

Ollivander had never seen such a large magical reaction before. But if he found that shocking, it was nothing compared to what was to come. As the flames started to disappear he saw that Orihime stood there in front of him, her hands empty, and a new spirit flouting at eye level in front of her.

This new spirit had medium length yellow blond hair tied up with a golden feather ornament being used as a clasping pin. Her round eyes were amber orbs free of black pupils and a slightly puzzled expression was spread across the sun kissed skin of her face.

Orihime looked as surprised by the appearance of the new spirit as Ollivander was. But her face quickly turned to a gentle smile. "Hello there, I'm Orihime Inoue, thank you for answering me."

The spirit smiled back and gave a midair curtsy, sweeping out an shimmering orange and gold gown that nearly hide her feet underneath it. The long sleeves on the blouse she wore flapped open from cuts that reached up to her armpits looking a little like wings draped over her shoulders. "It is wonderful to meet you, Lady Orihime. I will do my best to answer your prayers. I am Alba, your Ignem Aeternum, my power is yours to command."

"It is nice to meet you, Alba. Welcome to the group." Orihime said cheerful.

"Wahoo!" Lily shouted, flying over to the new spirit. The energetic female spirit pulled Alba into a one armed hug. "Yes! Now the numbers are even between the boys and girls at three and a half each!"

"Hey! What do you mean a half? I keep telling you Lily-chan, I'm a guy!" Shun'ō said, flushing indignantly though he still gave a kind smile to the newcomer, unfortunately showing off his girlish features.

"It is nice to meet you, Alba-chan." "Welcome to the group." "Nice to meet you." The other spirits came in, giving their only greetings, save for Tsubaki who hung back and watched.

"The wand, where did it go?" Sora said, dumbfounded as the wand seemed to disappear for his sister's hands.

"Your sister turned it into a spirit. Quiet remarkable." Dumbledore said, running a hand over his beard. "I'm afraid that you are not able to see them, but they are around your sister right now."

"You... don't say." Sora said gazing uncomfortably around his sister.

"Spirit Actualization. I never thought I would see it. Dumbledore... did you know this was going to happen?" Ollivander asked in a hushed voice, his eyes never leaving the spirit which had been a wand. To the wandmaker, it was as if he was witnessing the birth of Christ. It was the living spirit of a wand given form.

"No, but I have suspected." Dumbledore admitted. Ollivander frowned at that response. He had known Dumbledore long enough to know that his 'suspicions' rarely were good for the people involved.

"Dumbledore, sir, my I speak to you alone for a minute, there are a few issues I would like to talk to you about." Ollivander said, keeping his voice light though his usually dazed eyes were staring sharply at the Headmaster.

"Of course. Mr. Inoue, would you mind taking your sister across the street to the tailoring shop. Just tell the woman behind the desk that Orihime is to be a new Hogwarts students. They will know what to do." Dumbledore said giving Sora a pat on the shoulder.

"Wait, don't I need to pay Ollivander-san?" Orihime said quickly, she pulled out a purse full of the wizarding corns. "How much is it?"

"Ah, ten galleons." Ollivander said. Orihime gave the man the money before leaving with her elder brother, six of the seven spirits in tow behind her. None of the humans noticed as Tsubaki slid out of the group. The darker spirit pressed himself into the shadows, watching Dumbledore and the wandmaker. After the door closed behind the Japanese girl and her brother, Ollivander spoke again. "Dumbledore, why did you have me make that wand? With that girl, any wand would have done the job."

"Hm, I'm sure it would have. The girl is quite remarkable and is very accepting." Dumbledore nodded in agreement, though he didn't offer the wandmaker any other explanations.

"Dumbledore, you know perfectly well that Fawkes had only ever given two other feathers to be used in wands, and you know how fate twists around those two; the boy-who-lived and you-know-who." He sounded angry with Dumbledore. "Do you want her to be caught up in that mess as well? Do you really understand how dangerous that could be?" Tsubaki had to hold back a growl as he heard those words. Not that it really mattered, fate could not touch Orihime. She defied fate; rejected it. But for the elder wizard to do something that could eventually put his Princess in danger was unforgivable. "Who is that girl? I have never seen anyone like her in all my years. Her magic is so powerful that it can be seen even without being focused by a wand."

"To be honest, I'm not sure." Dumbledore admitted.

"But you have your suspicions? You always do." Ollivander quickly countered. Dumbledore nodded, but didn't answer directly. "You have plans for her, don't you?"

"No. Not yet anyways. I know too little to have plans, merely hopes and expectations." Dumbledore said. "I expect wondrous things, but I have no idea what role she may play in the future. But her potential for good is to much for me to turn a blind eye on." Dumbledore paused for a second, considering his words. "But I believe that she knows herself. She constantly says that she has three years to prepare for something. That she needs to get stronger for an event that is to come. And if the events of last year are any clue, I am guessing that dark times are ahead. She vary well could be the key to adverting the worst of the misfortune. To heal the wounds that time has created." There was a moment of silence, one that made Tsubaki want to rush out and cleave the old fart in two.

"Dumbledore, I know that you are just trying to do what is right, but I don't like it. I just don't." Ollivander said, shaking his head. "Just go, and if you don't mind, keep me informed... about how her wand, Alba, performs. After all, I doubt there has ever been a wand like her."

"I see, just professional curiosity?" Dumbledore said, giving a knowing smile. He nodded and started to leave the shop, Tsubaki slipping out of the shadows to tail behind him. The offensive spirit glared daggers into Dumbledore's back.

"If you think you are going to use our Princess like a pawn, you got another thing coming you bastard." Tsubaki growled to himself before rejoining the rest of the spirits to discuss what he had over heard.

"Viewing students as tools. How undignified." Hinagiku said angrily, agreeing with Tsubaki's view of the matter; kill the old man.

"I don't understand, he wants to do good? That's a good thing, right?" Baigon said, scratching his head.

"He wants to use our Princess! I don't care what his intentions are! I won't allow it! No, no!" Lily shouted, angrily shaking her head back and forth.

"We have seen in the past that one man's good is not always true good. I don't want to see Orihime-sama getting hurt again." Ayame added her own two cents.

"We need to know more about Dumbledore's methods in order to make a fair assessment of the situation." Shun'ō said, crossing his arms, trying to be the pragmatic one.

"I know a little of them." The other spirits looked surprised when Alba spoke up. "A part of me came from his Phoenix, which has watched him for many years. I can't remember much, but I can remember a little from that time."

"Really? So what can you tell us?" Hinagiku asked as they all turned towards the newest member.

"Well... he does have the best of intentions, but he isn't above using people, and the people he uses often get placed in harms way." Alba said, closing her eyes and thinking back. "Last year, three students nearly died when Dumbledore tried to lure out a dark wizard who had been hiding away. He wanted the world to accept the fact that Voldemort still lived. But he didn't stop the children from getting involved. So I am in agreement with Sir Tsubaki, regardless of intentions, it would be unwise for us to allow the Headmaster to gain sway over Lady Orihime. For her own protection, we cannot allow it."

Tsubaki scoffed. "If Dumbledore was hoping that you would help his cause, he was mistaken. For us, the Princess's safety and happiness always come first and to hell with any higher causes."

"I'm glad to have your approval." Alba smiled, seeming to relax a little. The fact that they were discussing events involved in her existence had been uncomfortable, but none of the other spirits seemed to begrudge her anything.

"Unfortunately, Orihime-sama hardly has a suspicious bone in her body. It will be difficult to make her understand the danger." Shun'ō said with a sigh.

"Then we will simply have to guard her from the old man ourselves! We won't let anyone else try to use her! Not ever!" Lily shouted energetically. Some of the others echoing the sentiment. They had decided, Dumbledore was their enemy, and they were the shield which guarded the Princess.

* * *

 **Alba is a name meaning Dawn, and is also a subspecies of a type of plant known as the Bird of Paradise. Thus keeping with the flower theme of Orihime's powers.**

 **Ignem Aeternum is Latin for everlasting fire.**

 **Dumbledore isn't evil, he's like Urahara, but Urahara isn't the most trust worthy guy either.**

 **Hey kids, who wants to go on a suicide mission and raid a heavily guarded castle from another dimension that is full of guys who are a lot stronger than you because I fucked up about fifty years back!?**

 **Gods bless you Urahara and your weird dress sense. Only you could make that look stylish.**


	6. Chapter 6

Orihime smiled softly as she pulled a blanket over her brother's shoulders, and took the half finished cup of tea out of his hand to rinse it in the sink. It had been a long long day in England for the two of them, and he didn't have his sister's youthful energy to keep him going. He had probably not slept properly before they left either. Being awake for over thirty hours straight was too much for him, especially with all the stress and excitement of the day.

They had finished their shopping with Dumbledore before being taken back to Japan. Dumbledore said he would comeback the following night to pick them up to take to Hogwarts and that they should take the time to pack any thing they needed and tie up loose ends.

Even though the sun was just going down in England, it was still early morning in Japan and the sun would soon rise.

Orihime stifled her own yawn. Struggling to keep moving as she put on her shoes. "Maybe you should get some sleep, Orihime-sama." Baigon said unnecessarily quietly as the large spirit flew up next to Orihime's ear.

Orihime smiled and shook her head. "No... I have to do this now. I don't know when I will get another chance." She said before quietly tiptoeing to the door and slipping out into the early morning air. It was still dark out, but the lights of the street lamps were more than enough to see by and Orihime's short legs carried her as fast as she could go toward her destination, the spirits flying above her, providing protection and support. She needed the support. She had no idea how this was going to go down. That was probably the reason she didn't return them to their material forms to save her energy even though she was tired.

The road seemed longer than it had been in the past, but she was shorter now, so she supposed that made sense. Even so, it wasn't long before she found herself standing in front of the unkempt lawn of a rundown looking shop, a banner over the entrance boasting the name of the establishment; 'Urahara Shop'. She could already sense the people inside, and she could sense that they could sense her. They had known she had been there since she stepped through their barrier.

It was a strange thing, wondering how to approach a friend who doesn't remember you, though it was one Orihime would probably have to get used to. She knew she had to speak to them, and she knew that her story would be hard to swallow.

"You can do it, Orihime-chan. We are all her for you." Shun'ō said pushing lightly on Orihime's shoulder.

"What's going on?" Alba asked quietly.

"Just sit there with your ears open for know new girl, we'll explain things later." Tsubaki mumbled to her. "These people were friends of Orihime's in the future, but they don't know that yet. She wants to warn them about up coming events." Alba nodded understandingly, she had heard a bit about the past events of their Princess from the others, making her marvel more and more at this girl who was now her master.

Orihime walked up to the front door and knocked on the wooden frame. "Um, hello! Urahara-san! Are you there!? I know its early, but I really need to talk to you! It's really important!"

They could hear an over the top yawn coming from the other side of the door before it open to reveal a middle aged man with straw colored hair and the strangest outfit consisting of dark green shirt understand a dirty dark coat with white diamond patterns on it. He rubbed his eyes sleepily before thrusting a green and white stripped hat onto his hand. Only then did he open his eyes and look down at Orihime.

"Hm... morning..." He said as he made to loosen is jaw, his eyes drifted over Orihime and glanced at the spirits around her, seeming to take it all in without any surprise. "Welcome to Urahara Shop... I'd say I'm not open right now and to comeback later, but I suppose you aren't here to buy any candy. So what can I do for you?"

"What... who is that dirty old tramp. Please tell me he isn't the one our Lady has come to see." Alba whispered to Shun'ō. Lily overheard her and had to clasp her hands over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"That man is Kisake Urahara, he's a former Captain of the Goten Thirteen. Her strong, cunning... and not entirely there if you catch my drift." Shun'ō whispered back.

"Something that is common among Captains." Lily giggled.

Orihime bowed to Urahara. "Urahara-san, I know this is going to be hard to understand, but I really need to talk to you, its about the Hōgyoku." Orihime said quickly.

Urahara froze in mid yawn. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I didn't know anyone by that name." He said trying to pass off the reaction, but in doing so forgetting to act tired.

"Please, I know this is all going to be very had to believe, but I'm from three years in the future, and Aizen is going to steal the Hōgyoku and use it to create an army of modified Hollows called Arrancars! Please believe me!" Orihime said as fast as she could.

Urahara's face went slack before he stepped aside. "How about I get us some tea. This sounds like it is going to take a while."

* * *

Urahara and Tessie sat at the small table in the cramped receiving room of the shop, serious looks on there faces. Urahara took a long drink of tea, finishing his cup without wincing at the feel of the tea leafs in his throat.

"What do you think?" Tessie asked him, staring at the twelve year old girl who claimed to be a time traveler. Orihime was figiting nervously.

"Well... I believe her." Urahara said, putting down the cup. Orihime gave a sigh of relief and a grateful smile. "It's so outlandish that it can't be anything but true. It's the only way that she would know about things that I'm pretty sure Aizen hasn't figured out yet. Not only that, but her power is very real and her claim about the reasoning behind her eventual kidnapping is sound. Time travel is a stretch, but the time continuum lapsing between worlds is a known phenomenon. even if it is usually only about a week. That is the entire reason for the Sweepers existence."

Tessie nodded in agreement. "You're right, I suppose. I send you my deepest felt feelings of regret, Inoue-san. You have been through so much because of our mistakes." The large dark skinned man bowed deeply to the girl, his head pressing against the floor.

"Oh no! Don't, we were all in this together! And I don't blame you for what happened... or could have happened!" Orihime said, flushing in embarrassment at the display.

"So I was to make a mistake... and was going to cause all that mess. Well, at least I know now." Urahara said before giving Orihime a large smile. "Though I have to admit I am interested in finding out more, I think that can wait. Three years... we know have a data to put on the calendar. You need to go get some sleep. You said you are going to be studying magic for the next few years, correct. England was it? That means it is Hogwarts. A good school, though they didn't let me teach there. Thank you very much for the info, Orihime-chan!"

"Not at all. This is my fight too, or it will be." Orihime said with a smile. "But um... before I go. I want to know if you could give me some books on learning Kido."

Urahara didn't seem surprised by the request at all, he just nodded, before flipping out his fan. "We'll see what we can do for you, happy training!"

A few minutes later, Orihime had several books written by Tessie himself on the subject of Kido. She thanked them for everything and they parted ways. Afterwards Urahara and Tessie were still sitting together at the table.

"Tessie... I truly am a bastard." Urahara said weakly. Tessie looked at his boss with a surprised look. "I'm not going to change it. That Rukia girl will have to be taken and everyone's lives will have to be put at risk so that Aizen will reveal his true colors. I know how horrible the future is going to be, yet I'm not going to help ease it for them. Is there anyway else to describe me other than a bastard?" Urahara said, looking up at his old friend with sad eyes.

"You are just going to let Aizen take the Hōgyoku?" Tessie said in surprise.

Then Urahara smiled. "I never said that. He'll attack Rukia for her Gigai, but the real Hōgyoku won't be in her."

* * *

Orihime wanted to immediately start scanning over all of the pages in her new magic books the moment she got back home. She wanted to start to train, to get stronger for the challenges to come. Sadly her sleep deprived preteen body didn't agree with her and she was out like a light the moment she entered her room, flopping out on top of her bed sheets.

"You did well today, Princess. Take a well deceived rest." Ayame whispered as the spirits all worked together to get some blankets over her, then she herself yawned.

"We should probably sleep as well. No one knows what tomorrow might bring." Alba said softly. There was an agreement among the group and they returned to their stationary forms as mere hairpins and a wand. But before resting, the spirits within the hairpins had a short discussion.

"So what do you think about Alba-chan?" Shun'ō asked, knowing that the wand could not overhear them.

"Not sure what to think yet. I'm withholding judgment for now." Baigon said calmly. That was his answer for everything, withhold judgment, sitting and waiting for things to play out, only reacting when the situation demanded immediate action.

"She seems kind." Ayame said gently.

"But is that a good thing?" Tsubaki countered, quick to put forward his opinion. "Kindness will only get you so far. When the opposition stands in front of us, we can't be afraid to act. The wand girl hasn't seen the things we have, she has no idea what she is in for."

"You speak as they we ourselves are her elder of many battles, but we have only been in a few fights." Hinagiku commented.

"I'm sure she'll learn quick, and even if she doesn't, we got three years ahead of us to help her grow into her role." Lily said in her easygoing manner. "Give the girl a break, she was only born today. You'll see, we will whip her into shape in no time flat."

"I'm not so sure how we are to prepare her for what is to come. Are we even prepared for it?" Shun'ō commented. "In the end, we are extentions of Orihime-sama's power. If we are to grow, first she must grow. The best we can hope to do is support her for now."

"Urg... Your right." Tsubaki grudgingly gave his agreement. "Helping our Princess grow is our first priority, the new girl will hopefully see some action before things get too serious. She needs to be exposed to what real power looks like, and a dragon just doesn't cut it."

"Praying for disaster is not advisable, Tsubaki-san." Hinagiku replied, disapproval in his voice. "For now, we learn, application can wait."

* * *

 **O-make**

 **Things had not gone to plan, but Aizen had finally done it. His hand was plunged into Rukia's gigia body, the kido he had developed to separate it from the Hōgyoku was working perfectly, he could feel the prism in which the item was seal underneath his fingers as he drew his hand out of the black hole, a smile of victory long fought for spread across his face.**

 **But when he finally withdraw his hand from the hole and saw what was inside it, his face dropped. There was something else there inside the crystal casing rather than the jewel he had long coveted. It looked like... a fortune cookie?**

 **He broke the barrier with a squeeze of his hand before cracking the cookie in two and pulling out the paper.**

 **"What does it say, Aizen-sama?" Ichimaru asked curiously as he looked over the traitor Captain's shoulder.**

 **'Haha, I win, Love Kisuke. :3'**

 **"Urahara!" Aizen crumpling up the paper as he screamed to the heavens. Hundreds of Soul Reapers filing in to capture the traitor Captains. Fifty years of being sneaking, rendered pointless.**


	7. Chapter 7

"Orihime-chan, it's almost time to leave, are you ready!?" Sora called out from the kitchen. He had a few overnight bags of clothes, tooth brushes and the like, and was waiting for Dumbledore to arrive. Orihime on the other hand was still in her room, and by the sound of the rapid movements within, was still working on getting ready.

"Yes... no... just give me a minute and I'll be right out!" Orihime shouted from within her room. She was practically tripping over her own feet as each of her spirits tried to call her attention to different things that she needed to pack; books, clothes, the soul phone Urahara had provided her with... unmentionables.

She was so embarrassed that she had over slept, having been too tired to set her alarm before passing out from exhaustion earlier in the day. She hadn't woken up until just two hours previous when it suddenly hit her that she hadn't said goodbye to Tatsuki and she ran out of the house to get one final word with her friend before heading out to Hogwarts.

After she got back she found she had only an hour to shower, get herself presentable and pack. Now she was down to the last five minutes as she tried to dry her hair with one hand while using her butt to push close the suitcase she had slightly over stuffed.

"Calm down Orihime-chan, it isn't like you have to have 'everything' during this run. You can come back on the weekends to grab anything you forgot." Lily giggled as Orihime tripped and fell over.

Orihime pushed herself up off the ground, then laughed as rubbed the back of her head. "Right, I forgot about that." She admitted with her usual smile. "I guess I am just excited is all."

"Be excited, but move with purpose. Otherwise you will make more work for yourself." Hinagiku said sagely. "For example, your shirt is on backwards."

Orihime looked down to see that he was telling the truth and gave a squeak, before quickly turning it around and trying to smooth it out. "Well it seems like your finally ready." Ayame said with an embarrassed giggle.

"Right." Orihime said with a smile and nod. "Nii-san, I'm ready!" She shouted as she ran out of her room, using some of her spiritual energy to enhance her strength, letting her lift the heavy suitcase with ease. But when she arrived at the kitchen, she found not only her older brother standing there waiting, but also Dumbledore and Touma. The three of them were standing around an old grandfather clock in the middle of the room, one that's face only had one hand, and rather than the numbers around the outer edge there were two sets of words; Dumbledore's Office Hogwarts, Inoue's House Japan, the hand was currently pointing at the latter.

Dumbledore smiled upon seeing her. "It is good to see you once again, Ms. Inoue."

"In is good to see you too as well, Dumbledore-sensei, Touma-san." Orihime said putting down her suitcase and bowing to the two guests.

"Orihime-chan, are you ready to go? Are you sure you managed to pack everything?" Sora asked his sister.

Orihime gave him her larges smile. "I sure did, Nii-san. I'm all ready to go!" She said standing at attention, but then her stomach gave a rather unfortunately loud growl and she felt her face heat up. "Um... please ignore that." She said, laughing weakly as she tried to hold her stomach to stop the noise.

"Not to worry. Even though it is after lunch her in Japan, it is still a good time for lunch back at Hogwarts. You can join us in the Great Hall for the evening meal. It will be a good chance for you to meet the men and women who will be your instructors." Dumbledore said friendly.

"Alright, that sounds good." Orihime said with a short nod of agreement.

"Now, if you would all turn your attention to this clock, I will be explaining how you will be traveling to and from Hogwarts during the course of this Summer." Touma said, bringing everyone's attention to the clock. "This grandfather clock is a two way port-key and has been charmed so that when you move the hand from one destination to the next, it will move itself and anyone who is touching it to the set destination. It will also log who and what was transported with both the Japanese and British governments, so don't worry about such things. Whenever you are ready, simply put your hand on the clocks surface and we can begin."

Both Orihime and Sora grabbed their bags and put one hand on either side of the clock. The spirits returned to their objects so as to not risk being left behind by the magic. Dumbledore himself walked to the front of the clock and placed a hand on the glass in front of the pendulum. However, Touma didn't make any move to join them.

"Is Touma-san not coming?" Orihime asked, eyeing the suited man.

"No, I'm afraid he is a very busy man, and this is a long trip." Dumbledore said with a wink. "But it is a trip that we are about to take. So, lets get the hands turning." Dumbledore put his thumb on the end of the hand of the clock and slowly turned it until it pointed towards 'Dumbledore's Office Hogwarts'.

Orihime felt like her hand had been glued to the clock and that something pulled her forward off of her feet. The sensation wasn't pleasant, and Orihime felt her eyes water with a strain on her head, but no sooner had the feeling started then it had stopped and she found herself in a very different place.

Dumbledore's office was cluttered, perhaps the most cluttered place Orihime had ever seen, books and scrolls were scattered over every visible surface of the tabletops and dozens of shining instruments who's purposes Orihime could only guess at.

Sora gasped as he stared at a wall full of potrits of old headmasters. "Dumbledore-sensei. The pictures... they are moving." He managed to choke out through his shock.

"Hm... yes, they do that. It is a simple charm we put on our pictures, extremely common in the wizarding world. I am usually more surprised when pictures aren't moving." Dumbledore said as he straightened his beard, mumbling, "Port-key travel always makes such a mess out of it."

"Orihime-chan, can you believe this?" Sora said staring in wonder, but his sister didn't answer. "Orihime-chan?"

Orihime was standing a far distance away staring at a blank patch of wall, her mouth open slightly. "Dumbledore-sensei, the walls, they are... awake." Orihime said, trying to think of the best way to describe it. She could feel steady currents of spiritual energy moving through the walls, and it was observing her back. She reached out and touched the wall, feeling the stones vibrate slightly underneath her touch. Its consciousness was not strong, but it was definitely there.

"You noticed? Very astute of you." Dumbledore said with a smile. He was curious as to how exactly the girl could tell, but decided that the subject could wait. "Hogwarts' Castle was made using the same type of magic you use to give life to your hairpins and wand. As you say, the spirits within these stones are very much awake. But that can be saved for another time, I believe I promised you both a meal, correct? Just leave your bags here, they will be taken to your rooms for you."

Dumbledore guided the siblings out of his office and through the halls. Sora stare in wonder at the moving staircases and paints but Orihime's eyes didn't seem to wonder as much, a look of focus was on her face. She wasn't taking in her surroundings with her eyes, she was feeling them, taking in all the spiritual energies and pressures, trying to decipher what kind of place she was in.

Dumbledore found himself surprised again as she girl seemed to instinctively know where the trick steps were on the stairs, warning her brother about one that Dumbledore had forgotten to mention. He wondered if this was another part of her natural talent with spirits or if it was a developed skill. He could remember all the times both she and her spirits seemed aware of his presence long before he had entered their field of vision, even when he made an effort not to make a sound.

Dumbledore was still wondering how best to get the information of her skills from the girl when they reached the Great Hall. Several of his colleagues were already sitting at the tables eating and conversing as they saw fit.

It was Hagrid who first spotted the new arrivals. "Professor Dumbledore sir, back already!?" Her large man shouted his greeting. The professors all turned to see their headmaster and their eyes all traced over the small girl who was with him, or the small figures that circled about her. Orihime felt a little embarrassed, being the focus of so much attention, but she did her best to stay tall.

"Indeed Hagrid, the trip was short but sweet and fruitful. Now, how about I introduce our new guests and then we can make marry and try to fill ourselves up for what remains of the day." Dumbledore said before gesturing to Orihime. "This Orihime Inoue, she will be studying with us for the remainder of the summer in order to be ready to join the second years come the start of the next semester, and her elder brother, Sora will also be staying with us as long as he sees fit."

"It's... it's nice to meet you all! Please take good care of me!" Orihime said giving a low bow to the gathered professors.

"No need to stand on ceremony right now child, grab a chair and partake in the food and some friendly conversation." A small man with a large forehead and slightly pointed ears said, slapping his hand on an empty chair next to him. He was giving a friendly enough smile so Orihime took him up at his offer. Her brother was a bit slower behind him, his eyes staring up towards the sky above them and the candles that flouted through the air. Seeing the man's expression the small man chuckled. "There is a ceiling. It has just been charmed in order to look like the sky outside. It makes afternoons like this one quite lovely, though I believe we could do without whenever a storm sets in." The man put down is silverwear and held out a hand. "How about we start with some more introductions. I am Filius Flitwick, the professor of Charms. It is a pleasure."

"The pleasure is mine, Flitwick-sensei." Orihime said, gladly shaking the man's hand. His outgoing personality made it much easier for her to relax.

"No at all. Now for some more names if you think you can handle them." Flitwick said before looking around the table. "We have Professor Mcgonagall of Transfiguration, Ms. Aurora Sinistra is head of Astronomy, Professor Burbage of Muggle Studies, Pomona Sprout is our Herbology Professor, and Rubious Hagrid is the ground keeper of our not so humble institution." Flitwick said, pointing to the instructors one after another. Each one nodding in a varyingly friendly manner as they were named. "That is all that is with us at the moment. The others have either gone home for the summer or else take their midday meals in their private chambers."

"Not quite Filius, old Kettleburn hasn't made it back from feeding the creatures yet." Professor Sinistra said with a sly smile as she spooned herself a portion of potatoes.

"Ah! How could I forget, well you will meet our Care of Magical Creatures instructor soon enough. But first, eat, we can hardly expect you to seeming go without while we all talk. If you wait for us to stop, my goodness years will have gone by before that happens!" Flitwick laugh in an uncontrolled manner. Orihime took him up on his advice and started to eat herself.

Orihime did her best to remember her manners while eating, forcing herself to eat slowly despite her hunger. It wasn't until she looked up from hear meal to find several pairs of eyes on her, or on the spirits around her, that she sank a bit into her chair.

"Sorry Ms. Inoue, but what exactly are those." Professor Burbage asked, pointing to Ayame who gave a short squeak before hiding behind Orihime's chair. Orihime started to try to think how to explain them, it was something that was coming up more and more often. She didn't understand why people made such a big deal out of it, the Soul Reapers hardly cared, other than some of the Captains. But before Orihime could gather hear thoughts, Dumbledore spoke up.

"They are the Shun Shun Rikka, spirits of objects who have been released from their physical form by Orihime's Spirit Actualization ability." Dumbledore said, hardly breaking in his hurried pace of eating to say it. But his lips were pulled up in a smile as some of the professors who were drinking did a spit-take and started to pound on their chests to stop their coughing fits.

"Spirit Actualization, well I'll be." Flitwick said with a slow whistle. The following questions involving magic quickly overwhelmed Orihime and confused her. Something about the bonding ratio of the transfigure objects and the need for integrated magical circuits. Orihime was half convinced he was just making up words as he went along.

"Filius, I am afraid that Ms. Inoue has had no formal education in magic, and even if she had your questions are rather numerous." Dumbledore interjected around the time steam started to escape through Orihime's ears. "Though you seem to be very excited, how about you take the first tutoring shift for today."

"Certainly! I would be glad to have a student during these dull times. The Summers are so painfully slow around here." Flitwick said with a laugh.

"I will try to live up to your expectations." Orihime said politely as she tried to get her head back on straight and feared what the next few hours with the tiny man would entail. Her mind was already spinning from all the activity and the dozens of spiritual threads moving freely through the air, and this was supposed to be slow when compared to the school year?

Orihime was pulled out of the thought as she noticed another spiritual thread moving closer to the hall. She turned her head to the door just in time to see an elderly man in a patchwork brown coat striding confidently through the door. His hair was shoulder length and tied back into a ponytail so that his rough facial features were in clear view. He sported several burns and scratch marks on his wrinkled face but he still grinned like he was the king of the world. But the thing that was most shocking was that he was missing his left arm. The sleeve dangled empty as he moved into the room.

"Ow! We have some guests!? Well I'm sure everyone else has already said it, but welcome to Hogwarts!" The man said cheerfully as he took up a seat next to Hagrid and started to pull what food he could towards him with his singular arm, his loud voice giving the impression that the man was a little hard of hearing.

Though he was clearly one of the oldest men in the room, he seemed unnaturally energetic. Orihime was going to introduce herself to them man, but Flitwick jumped into conversation with him before she had the chance too.

"Kettleburn! How goes it down with the creatures!?" Flitwick said, raising his voice to the older gentlemen.

"Oh, it goes well! The Fire Crabs are starting to reach their three cycle so we will be having a fresh batch of youngling for the students to handle by this coming November!" Kettleburn shouted happily before turning towards Pomona Sprout. "On an unrelated note, I saw evidence of Dugbogs in the area so you best be watching out for your Mandrakes Pomona."

"Heavens forbid! I won't let a single one of those oversized newts near my green houses!" The pump woman huffed loudly so the man could hear but understand her displeasure at the news. "Luckily the mandrakes are still potted at the moment! Thank you for the warning!"

"Do not mention it Pomona! I'll be sure to get some repellent for yous to set up. Hagrid, you help me collect the..."

"Mooncalf dung; the none harmful repellent! Yessir! I'll get it tonight if the sky stay clear!" Hagrid finished quickly, earning a laugh from the kindly old man.

"Thats a good boy!" He said, patting the large man on the back. It seemed like such an odd gesture to see, since Hagrid was ruffly the same size as Zaraki-taichou and looked to be around fifty something years of age himself. But soon the laugh turned into a gagging sound and several of the members of the staff moved to assist the man only to be quickly waved down. He covered his mouth and coughed hard and when he brought his hand away, there was some blood dripping down from the corner of his cheek. "Damn." He mumbled as he grabbed a napkin and started to wipe it up.

"I see your condition isn't improving, no matter how much you insist that it is." Mcgonogall said, her voice both stern and concerned. "Kettleburn, you need to retire. All this moving about isn't good for your health."

"Hogpash!" Kettleburn shouted angrily. "Dumbledore is older than me and you don't see him retiring! I didn't throw in the towel when I lost me arm, and I'm not calling it quits for this either!" He said, crossing his one arm over his chest in a stubborn gesture. "You couldn't find anyone to replace me anyways! The only one who could would be Hagrid, since the boy has been dogging my heels for the last fifty years, but those blood suckers in London wouldn't let you give him a teaching position! I've seen Gnomes with more sense!"

"Your arm." Orihime said loud enough for everyone to hear her but not the same half shouting as everyone else. "Would you let me take a look at it?"

"What's that!?" Kettleburn said holding a hand to his ear. "You want to look at my arm?"

"Yes, I want to see if I can heal it!" Orihime said more loudly. Some of the people at the table looked around, not sure what to think.

"I'm sorry girl, but the best healers in Britain have already..!" Kettleburn started, but this time it was Dumbledore whose voice moved through the hall.

"Let her try." The headmaster said, his instructor's voice having no trouble being heard by all. "Ms. Inoue has a very unique healing ability. So I say, let her try." He looked towards the girl, his bright blue eyes shining. "Do you think you can do it?"

Orihime nodded. "I've done severed limbs before. I should be able to." She said surprising everyone. She got up out of her seat and moved over to Kettleburn and started to roll up his sleeve. She stared at the stump feeling the energy inside of it and the skin was discolored. "There is a foreign Reishi in the tissue of your arm. What was it that attacked you?"

Kettleburn's mouth twitched. "A Manticore, around five years back. They had to amputate the arm to stop the venom from spreading." He grumbled. "Sorry, but I'm not expecting much."

"Hm... there isn't much of it, so it should be too much of a problem. Ayame, Shun'ō." The two named spirits came and moved to either side of the injury. "Sōten Kisshun, I reject!"

The orange orb formed around where the old professors arm must once have been as Orihime concentrated. To the observers the event was hard to describe. It looked as if invisible bandages were being peeled away to show Kettleburn's undamaged arm underneath them, as if it had been there all along. The process only took a matter of seconds and once Orihime was done, a normal human arm sat were there had once just been a stump.

"There, good as new." Orihime said with a smile. "It is a lot easier when here isn't a strong Reishi in the wound. If it had been a Hollow attack, then it could have taken hours to fix. Depending on the strength of the Hollow."

The room was silent as they stared at Kettleburn's arm, the fingers twitching as the old man tried to remember how to move them, a dumb expression on his face, as if he couldn't believe his own senses. Then they all looked at Orihime and asked the exact same question. 'Who is this girl?'

"Don't suppose you could do my legs too? These ones are fake."

* * *

 **Since I am doing a challenge I am putting out one of my own.**

 **After losing to Ichigo, Aizen has nothing, not the Hogyoku, not his army of Arrancar, or even his zanpakuto. But the evil master would still not give up. He seeks out the three pieces of the Spirit King that were left in the moral world centuries ago in an attempt to create a new Hogyoku, one for each of the Spirit King's incarnations;**

 **The Right Hand of the Soul King - Mimihagi - God of Stagnation, the True Cloak of Invisibility**

 **The Left Hand of the Soul King - Pernida Parnkgjas - God of Evolution, The Elder Wand**

 **The Heart of the Soul King - Gerard Valkyrie - God of Existence, The Resurrection Stone**

 **So Aizen pulls together what resources he has left and forms an alliance with Voldemort in order to get the pieces that he needs to reclaim the role of god.**


	8. Chapter 8

Dumbledore sat in his office, muscling through the last pieces of paperwork required of him before his the new year started. It was the last day before his students would arrive and he was having to sign all kinds of forms as respond to messages from worried parents who always sent him letters at the beginning of the year.

It had been an interesting few weeks to say the least. He half considered starting up Summer classes in order to try to imitate how much more enjoyable the summer had been. What Flitwick had said was true, without students around life was unbearably slow, and most of them had long moved past the point were a summer trip was enticing. Of course, they would need to find a student as gifted, interesting and respectful as Ms. Inoue.

The girl had taken to magic like a fish to water and was so genuinely excited and pleasant that she quickly became a favorite of nearly all her instructors. Kettleburn in particular had become very attached to the girl, offering to be the one to instruct her in Defense Against the Dark Arts, as they didn't have a proper instructor of the course on Campus at the moment.

Dumbledore received almost daily updates on the girl's progress. She mastered the wand movements quickly, her reciting of the words was almost completely flawless and her results spoke for themselves. In Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense, she mastered all the first year material in a matter of days. Of course, when your wand has a mind of its own and helps you succeed, it is hard not to excel.

Theory had been the hardest thing as her own language for the driving forces that ran the world of magic. Dumbledore had learned a little about her past training, though all of it was hard to believe. First she was trained for a week by a talking cat she called Yoruichi-sama, followed by one day of training by a one armed fireworks engineer and finally and perhaps most surprising, a month spent training underneath one of the Soul Reapers' legendary Taichous of the Goten Thirteen. But it seemed as though they were always only interested in her more unique abilities rather than the general use of magic.

She was an oddball, but was still a favorite of her instructors who all prayed for her to be sorted into there house. All save one.

"That is it! I have had it!" Dumbledore jumped in his chair as Professor Snape's voice boomed from the entrance of his office. The tall black haired professor moved into the room with out his usual flowing stride as he was stomping on the ground, uncaring for grace as his blood pressure hit the roof. "Headmaster, I will not have that... that thing in my dungeons any longer! I want her out! Her and those accursed insects she keeps with her!"

Dumbledore looked into Snape's headed face, his pale completion turning red from frustration, or perhaps it was pure rage, and he seemed to have a black eye. "I suppose this means there is still no luck in teaching the girl the art of Potions."

"I would have better luck teaching a troll the art of potion making than that girl!" Snape growled, his body shaking. "Incompetence doesn't even begin to describe it! Everything she does is pure unadulterated failure! She destroyed my entire lab while trying to make cough syrup! COUGH SYRUP! She isn't just bad, she is impossible! And every time I try to scold her, those demons assault me! I refuse to let her set one foot in my dungeons again!"

"Severus, please, Potions is a required course." Dumbledore said, trying to calm the man down.

"I'll write a waver if I have to, I don't care! Cancel all of my classes! FIRE ME! I will not teacher her!" Snape's breathing became ragged as he started to tremble. Rage had blinded him and he seemed ready to pass out from stress overload.

It was the only thing that Orihime seemed incapable of doing. She couldn't brew a potion to save her life.

* * *

"Hey, it's not nice to laugh." Orihime whined as she sat in the corner of Kettleburn's classroom using a charmed rag to get the layers of goo from the latest mishap off of her clothes.

She had modified her school uniform to look like the shihakusho she had warn while in the Soul Society. It helped remind her of what she was working for and all of her friend. Plus, the tightly wrapped black cloth was easier to move around in and she liked the way she looked in it. None of the professors really complained when she started to show up in it. Mcgonagall even congratulated her on her transfiguration work. It was apparently against the rules, but all of them were willing to make exceptions, claiming that it was because of cultural sensitivity.

"I can't help it! You honestly couldn't even get cough syrup right!? Even I wasn't that bad at potions!" The elder professor chuckled. "I wish I could have seen Snivels' face. He never had a sense of humor. I remember how uptight he was, even as a first year."

Kettleburn had become even more energetic since Orihime healed his old injuries away. Some of the professors even wondered if it was a smart idea to get the spritely man back on his two real feet again as he managed to get into more and more trouble.

Orihime still pouted at the teasing so Kettleburn decided to give her a break. "Alright, I know what will cheer you up. How about I show you my old friend Potter." Kettleburn said, pushing himself up onto his feet and moving towards a barn yard style door that lead to where he kept some of the more tame magical creatures. Orihime, having got the worst of the slug off herself, went after him.

They passed by a few large pens filled with verious kinds of snakes, spiders, and beasts with large tusks that Orihime couldn't identify, but seemed to be related to pigs, before finally stopping in front of one larger pen that's fence was entirely made of sheet metal. "Well little lass, meet my old friend Potter."

Potter looked like some kind of large tortes, as big as a fair sized bull, with six toeless legs and a massive black shell that seemed to have a multitude of gems embedded into the shell itself. The creature didn't give any sign of having noticed the two come in, just stared blankly forward, its slow breathing releasing steam.

"Wow, its so pretty." Ayame said flying around the thing.

"What is your classification of the word 'pretty'?" Lily said holding her nose. "All that glitters ain't gold, and it smells like rotten eggs."

"Haha! Yeah it does, doesn't it!?" Kettleburn laughed before throwing himself over the fence and motioning for Orihime to follow. "It does give off a lot of sulfur, which is what you are smelling. Potter's a fire crab, I got him back when I first started teaching, sixty-three years ago. This fella has fathered many a child's school project. They grow throughout their entire lives which is how he became so massive. Even when I got him he wasn't young. Boy is somewhere around a hundred and thirty, meaning he's even older than Dumbledore. Come over here and feel it."

"Alright." Orihime said, moving up to the fire crab and placing a hand on its onyx shell. The soothing warmth radiated from it, making her skin feel all tingly. "It kind of tickles." She said with a laugh.

"Doesn't it? Fire crabs can raise their body temperature at will, and they use it as one hell of a defense mechanism. Gets hot enough to burn the flesh clean off your hand!" He laughed. Orihime quickly pulled her hand off of the shell, and some of the spirits gave the man dirty looks, but he just laughed. "Don't worry. They only activate it when they sense greed. These boys are now a protected species because they were hunted for their shells by people who thought they made pretty cauldrons. So whenever they feel like someone is after there shells, they heat up to try to defend themselves. I figured you were pure enough to get away unharmed."

"Well don't test things like that!" Alba shouted angrily at the man.

Orihime sighed with relief as her spirits all jumped to defend her. She was a little surprised, but it was true that there was no harm done. Her eyes drifted around the room until she saw a large wall covered in framed papers. "What are those?" She asked, pointing to the wall.

Kettleburn followed her finger and then grinned as he saw what she was pointing toward. "Ah, my wall of memories. Come on, I'll show you." He said leading her out of the fire crab's pen. "These are my greatest moments from over the years. I keep them here as a reminder of the good times."

"Professor Kettleburn... The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures hereby... place you on probation!" Hinagiku read off in shock.

"This one is a probation warning too." Baigon said from the other side of the board.

"Same with this one." Alba said from up top.

"Thats right, sixty one probationary warnings in total so far. More than doubling the record in the history of the school." Kettleburn said pulling one of them down. "This one was for releasing exploding worms in the punkin patch to deal with the crows. Oh, and this one was for keeping a litter of cubs born to a wolf that had been impregnated by a werewolf. And I got this one for using magic to enlarge a badger until it was the size of a house."

"You... you're insane." Ayame squeaked. "How could they still let you teach after all this."

"Oh, no one was really hurt. Just a few broken bones and a couple burns. Nothing big." Kettleburn said with a shrug. "Teaching students about how to properly take care of magical creatures is naturally dangerous, but it is important. So I'm given a bit of leeway."

"Explains how he lost all his limbs." Tsubaki mumbled as he read through the impressive number of reports. "Incited a riot using an army of hypnotic toads..."

"Good times." Kettleburn said with a smile. "Speaking of good times, you excited for school to start up?"

Orihime flushed and nodded. "I'm a little nervous, I know that the others say that I'm caught up, but I really don't feel like I learned enough."

"Don't worry about it. Hardly anyone learns anything in their first year. There's too much work." Kettleburn said, waving down the girl's concerns. "Just wait, you'll see that your ahead of the curve. Just try not to make everyone less look to bad, and try to hide whenever someone brings up potions."

"Don't remind me." Orihime said, wincing at the thought of being in a potions class with other students to see her messing up. She didn't understand how things kept going wrong. She only made little additions that she thought would make it better, but it always just blew up in her face.

"You still insisting on going all the way to London to take the train with the other kids?" Kettleburn asked.

Orihime nodded. "I want to have that experience, just once. I want to see what Hogwarts looks like for people coming her for the first time from the train."

"Little late for that, but alright. Your call." Kettleburn said before looking at a clock. "Oh geez, look at the time. I was going to meet up with Hagrid thirty minutes ago. We are working on a way to crossbreed Fire Crabs with Manticores. We're thinking of calling them, Blast-Ended-Skrewts. Hope you have fun with your train ride tomorrow." He said as he guided her out of the barn and locked the door behind them.

"How has that man managed to live this long?" Shun'ō wondered aloud.

"I have no idea." Orihime replied honestly.

* * *

 **So Orihime's sorting is coming up. I've got a plan in mind though I am not sure if people have guessed it yet. I'm guessing not, because I didn't have a very high opinion of people, but I could be surprised.**

 **Kettleburn is actually canon, and did have three of his four limbs lost long before he retired as a teacher, and he was supposed to have retired with 62 probationary warnings on record.**

 **Looking for a beta, or really just someone to help with my spelling errors. I try to find them, but I've found that I'm not very good at it. The person who challenged me to write this has been trying to beta for me, but is having hardware problems, as in she doesn't have a computer. Message me if you are willing.**


	9. Chapter 9

Draco Malfoy had said his goodbyes for the year to his father and mother and boarded the Hogwarts express for his second year. Though it felt like the hundredth time he had seen the bright crimson train.

The train had always been a sticking point with the young Slytherin. On one hand, it was a tradition for Hogwarts, having been in place since his own father had been in the school, but on the other hand, the steam locomotive was a muggle invention. Why was it that they had to use such slow means of transportation when magic could have gotten them there in less than half the time. He supposed that the real reason for it was to give the first years a chance to create some sort of bond before they reached the front gates, but that always carried the risk of them making friends with the wrong sorts and finding themselves on opposite sides when they finally managed to get to the school. For everyone else, it was an annoying and unnecessary commute.

Malfoy's normal cohorts, Crabbe and Goyle were two steps behind him, with Goyle holding onto Malfoy's luggage, as they moved through the hall of the train. They were early and there were plenty of empty seats, but the ones closer to the front of the train were the first to be visited by the snack trolly, and the sooner Crabbe and Goyle had something in their mouths the sooner they would keep quiet.

They were around four cabins away from the front and it was starting to look as though other had the same idea as them. Thus forcing Crabbe and Goyle to fall back on their backup plan; bullying someone out of there compartment and taking it. Malfoy went along with it, less because of personal caring then in order to maintain control over the other two.

The compartment they choose to target had a few small voices making a good deal of noise behind it. The guess was that it would be first years, gullable, oblivious and easy targets for pressuring. And while when the door opened, he did indeed see someone he didn't recognize, a probable first year girl with long orange hair worthy of a Weasley and shiny brown eyes, she was being surrounded by miniature fairy like creatures that the boy had never seen before, each one talking to the girl or arguing amongst each other as she smiled and watched them.

Hearing the door open, the girl turned to them and gave them a greeting smile and a bow of the head. "Ohayō gozaimasu, would you like to join us?" She said. Malfoy frowned.

His father, being a politically important person, had been visited by Japanese people in the past, and as his son, Draco had to learn the common forms of respectful speech that they were to exchange, as well as how to properly address there compony. So he recognized the formal form of the expression, 'good afternoon', when the girl said it.

She didn't look all that Japanese. Perhaps she was the daughter of an ambassador and had simply learned the expression to the point of a knee jerk reaction, or she was half Japanese herself, she did have an accent. Though this wouldn't explain the small creatures that swam around the room.

"Hey!" Goyle said in his dumb voice in order to get her attention, it seeming not to have penetrated his thick head that she was already looking straight at them. Crabbe's eyes were looking with a sneer at the small creatures that flouted about. Malfoy supposed that he didn't like them. Understandable, since Malfoy himself hardly tolerated lesser beings unless they made themselves useful and stayed mostly out of sight, like the House Elf his family had. "What are you doing up here? First years sit at the back of the train. Didn't anyone tell you that?"

That was a lie of course, there was no such rule and by the way the boy was trying to make himself look even bigger, and by consequence stupider, it was clear to even the most passive observer that he was really just trying to throw the girl out.

That said, the girl herself seemed rather oblivious to this fact. "Really? I hadn't heard of that." She said tilting her head and putting a finger to her lips. "Was that detail supposed to be in the letters? I can't imagine the first year students could know about it any other way. Unless they had family tell them."

"Doesn't matter if you heard about it or not! Just get to the back! This is our compartment." Crabbe said, seeming to be unaware that all the small flying creatures were glaring at them.

The girl blinked at them but didn't stop smiling. Why the hell did she keep smiling? Girl must be destined for Hufflepuff. "Oh, I'm not a first year. I'm transferring into the second year. But if you want to sit here with me then there is plenty of room."

A transfer student? Such things were rare, but not unheard of. Her parents must have come from Japan and needed to stay in Britain for an extended time for such a thing to be necessary. Meaning it was probably something important. Either that or she was about for the cultural experience, though it was rare for anyone to seek magical training outside of there home country. Malfoy vaguely remembered his father discussing this point with other pure bloods who had jobs in education in France.

"Take a hint girly, this is our compartment, now how about you..." Crabbe started, taking a step forward through the door only to be dive bombed by three of the small creatures. He yelped as a girl one with pink hair kicked him in his oversized forehead while two male ones, a bold one and one dressed in black grabbed his ears and dragged him back out of the compartment.

"Why don't you guys just get lost if you don't feel like being friendly!" The pink one shouted, sticking out its tongue at the Slytherins. The others gathering up behind it so that the seven of them seemed to make a wall between the boys and the girl.

"Orihime-sama offered you a chance to be civil, but you clearly were not raised properly." The bald one said. Malfoy went from being only slightly peeved about the small creatures assaulting one of his groupies to standing stone cold still.

"Guys, you real don't have to." The girl said gently to the small creatures. "I'm sure we can all just be friends."

"Orihime-sama, you really need to learn to recognize when people are insulting you." A blond creature with a long pony tail said.

"Look here you little..." Crabbe started as Goyle recovered from the shocking attack. But Malfoy stepped in before he could say anymore.

"Crabbe, Goyle." He said sharply, signaling to both to shut up as he stepped in front of them. Then, looking past the sprites, he gave a bow at the waist to the girl, shocking his friends. "Gomen-nasai, I'm afraid that my friends are overly anxious about returning to our school. I hope that you can forgive their brash behavior." Malfoy said, thinking back to the lessons on Japanese edict he had.

The girl smiled again. "Its alright. I'm sure everyone is a little uppity right now. My old friends got this way all the time when they were about to go off on a job together." She said, her voice was still as reassuringly pleasant as before, as if she really hadn't noticed that the boys were trying to bully her. "Would you like to join me?"

"Thank you kindly for your offer, but I am afraid that my friend have forgotten that we need to meet up with some of our classmates before getting to school. But since we are all going to be in the second year, I am sure we will be seeing more of each other." Malfoy said before straightening up. "Until then, Himesama."

Malfoy grabbed Crabbe and Goyle and gave their robes a sharp tug, informing them that they were supposed to follow. He didn't notice the slightly confused look on the girl's face as he left. "Himesama?"

"Draco, why were you..." Crabbe said confused.

"Idiots... you idiots." Malfoy spat over and over again. "You just had to pick that girl's compartment didn't you."

"What's the problem? She's a nobody." Goyle said confused as to why they were getting such a reaction.

"A nobody? Did you not see the way she was dressed, the way she acted, did you not hear what those small creatures called her." Malfoy said quickly. "They were calling her Himesama, meaning Princess. That girl was Japanese royalty, you idiots!"

Both larger boy's eyes widened and their mouths loosely hung open. "I... I didn't know." Goyle managed to mumble.

"We can only hope that your bumbling hasn't caused irreversible damage to our families reputations." Malfoy said, he continued to steam about the encounter as he walked further and further away from the compartment in questions. He didn't even notice Hermione Granger and Genny, Fred, and George Weasley walking past him looking for seats.

"I wonder whats gotten into his britches." Fred said as he watched them go.

"I don't know, but I hope it stays there for a while. I do love to see him squirm." George commented as the twin red heads nodded in agreement.

* * *

 **I'm afraid I'm giving up on this challenge. I don't really like writing Orihime very much.**

 **Someone else can try to continue if they want.**


End file.
